Marcus Aurelius: Learning to See Clearly

Stoicism, Substance and Style

When we look at people, what do we really see? Image: Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (detail), 1907 (Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons).

Throughout our lives we’re judging. It’s exhausting.

We’re conditioned to make value judgements on the surface level of things. And how we judge others is how we judge ourselves.

As laughable as it seems, it’s a climate of fear — what will others think of our looks? Our possessions? Our style…