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Good morning, Procaptan. Welcome back to practical stoicism. I am your host, Tanner Campbell,

and if you are a premium subscriber, I would ask you to ensure that you have listened to the other audio recording that was released today.

It has some very important information in it. Today, we're covering Meditation 4 from Book 1.

And in it, we are going to hear why Marcus is thankful to Rusticus.

Quintus, Junius, Rusticus, or Rusticus, was a Roman teacher and politician.

He was probably also a grandson of Arulenus Rusticus, who was a prominent

member of the Stoic Opposition. And if you've not heard of the Stoic Opposition before, boy, oh boy,

you will be in for a treat when we finally get around to covering that on a future fireside chat.

Now that you have a little bit of background on old Rusticus,

let's jump into the meditation, which reads as follows. To Rusticus, I am beholding that I first

entered into the conceit that my life wanted some redress and cure, and then that I did not

fall into the ambition of ordinary sophists,

either to write tracks concerning the common theorems, or to exhort men into virtue,

and the study of philosophy by public orations, as also that I never by way of ostentation

did affect to show myself an active able man for any kind of bodily exercises,

and that I gave over the study of rhetoric and poetry, and of elegant, neat language,

that I did not use to walk about the house in my long robe, nor to do any such things.

Moreover, I learned of him to write letters without any

affectation or curiosity, such as that was, which by him was written to my mother from Siniusa,

...