Rational human agency. Marcus Aurelius 5.34

Be good. Do good. And then let go. This is the way.


Δύνασαι ἀεὶ εὐροεῖν, εἴ γε καὶ εὐοδεῖν, εἴ γε καὶ ὁδῷ ὑπολαμβάνειν καὶ πράσσειν. δύο ταῦτα κοινὰ τῇ τε τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ παντὸς λογικοῦ ζῴου ψυχῇ· τὸ μὴ ἐμποδίζεσθαι ὑπ’ ἄλλου καὶ τὸ ἐν τῇ δικαϊκῇ διαθέσει καὶ πράξει ἔχειν τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ ἐνταῦθα τὴν ὄρεξιν ἀπολήγειν.


You can always flow well with the current of events, if life offers free passage—if you have room to act and undertake things on the road that we must walk. Two features are common to the life we humans share with gods and all rational animals: (i) no individual is effectively impeded by the action of another, and (ii) everything good arises from cultivating a just character, expressing it in just action, and then ceasing to strive or long for anything more.