Michael A. Kahn

Author and Trial Attorney

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A Thanksgiving Meditation From Nearly Two Millennia Ago

By Michael KahnPosted on November 24, 20160 Comments1min read715 views

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On this Thanksgiving holiday, as we each pause to give thanks, I turn to a wise piece of advice from the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose book of meditations has remained in print (to the envy of all authors) since his death in 180 A.D.

Here is that Thanksgiving advice, from book seven of his Meditations:

Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.

Not bad, eh? And as long as we’re on the subject, here’s another of my favorite meditations, this from book four:

The man whose heart is palpitating for fame after death does not reflect that out of all those who remember him everyone himself will be soon dead also, and in the course of time the next generation after that, until in the end, after flaring and sinking by turns, the final spark of memory is quenched. Furthermore, even supposing that those who remember you were never to die at all, nor their memories to die either, yet what is it to you? Clearly, in your grave, nothing; and even in your lifetime, what is the good of praise–unless maybe to subserve some lesser design. Surely, then, you are making an inopportune rejection of what Nature has given you today, if all your mind is set upon what men will say of your tomorrow.

Marcus AureliusThanksgiving
Michael Kahn
Michael Kahn is a trial lawyer by day and a writer by night. He is the award-winning author of 11 Rachel Gold novels and 3 standalone novels, including his most recent one, PLAYED!, and several short stories. His latest Rachel Gold novel, BAD TRUST, is the 11th in that series.
A Thanksgiving Meditation From Nearly Two Millennia Ago

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Michael A. Kahn

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