"What is your duty?" asks Goethe. "The carrying out of the affairs of the day that lies before you." But this is too narrow a view of duty. "What again," he asks, "is the best government?
That which teaches us to govern ourselves." Plutarch said to the Emperor Trajan, "Let your government commence in your own breast, and lay the foundation of it in the command of your own passions."
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2 comments:
This is hard for me to grasp. What does it mean to you Fred?
If I understand it at all, it's to know that we are to take care of ourselves first? To govern and watch our steps before we can take care of others?
Well my take on it is like the scripture that says, "Sufficient to the day is the evil there of"
In other words, one's duty is to attend to the day's opportunities as they arise,not to worry about tomorrow but take care of the task at hand, which obviously considers those of the household first but extends to outside opportunities as they - appeal to the heart as a duty.-
A bit long winded but what else is new...?
The second refers to the scripture that says "each must gain mastery over themselves", loose translation.
How can we best respond to duty but by being in control of our passions -- greed, anger, lust, envy, etc. Remember in proverbs where is says "better to master ourselves than an entire city?"
I think its the same statement with different words.
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