"A man should be upright, not be..." - Quote by Marcus Aurelius
A man should be upright, not be kept upright.
More by Marcus Aurelius
“Take away the complaint, 'I have been harmed,' and the harm is taken away.”
“So you know how things stand. Now forget what they think of you. Be satisfied if you can live the rest of your life, however short, as your nature demands. Focus on that, and don't let anything distract you. You've wandered all over and finally realized that you never found what you were after: how to live. Not in syllogisms, not in money, or fame, or self-indulgence. Nowhere.”
“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.”
More on Self Reliance
“In my youth, I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”
“I don't need to be vindicated, and I don't want attention.”
“You can’t break me because you didn’t make me.”
More on Integrity
“I think business has to be stupider. I want to do really straightforward, stupid business - just talk to me like a 4-year-old. And I refuse to negotiate. I do not negotiate. I can collaborate. But I'm an artist, so as soon as you negotiate, you're being compromised.”
“One cannot pay the price of self-respect.”
“O good old man, how well in thee appears The constant service of the antique world, When service sweat for duty, not for meed! Thou art not for the fashion of these times, Where none will sweat but for promotion, And having that do choke their service up Even with the having. . . .”