Progress and Poverty · Chapter
Epigraph explained
The epigraph presents a passage from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus urging the reader to examine things in their substance, entirety, and context, understanding their composition, duration, and value within the universe and the highest city of w
What happens
The epigraph presents a passage from Marcus Aurelius Antoninus urging the reader to examine things in their substance, entirety, and context, understanding their composition, duration, and value within the universe and the highest city of which all other cities are like families.
Key passages
“Make for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is, in its substance, in its nudity, in its complete entirety, and tell thyself its proper name, and the names of the things of which it has been compounded, and into which it will be resolved.”
Define every object you encounter clearly, understanding its true nature, its components, and what it will become.
Encourages methodical examination of all things.
“For nothing is so productive of elevation of mind as to be able to examine methodically and truly every object which is presented to thee in life, and always to look at things so as to see at the same time what kind of universe this is, and what kind of use everything performs in it, and what value everything has with reference to the whole, and what with reference to man, who is a citizen of the highest city, of which all other cities are like families; what each thing is, and of what it is composed, and how long it is the nature of this thing to endure.”
The highest mental elevation comes from examining everything methodically, understanding its role in the universe, its value to the whole and to humanity, and its composition and duration.
Links personal understanding to cosmic and civic context.