Here are some thoughts, called “The Decent Life” from the philosopher Emperor.

Honour and revere the gods*, treat human beings as they deserve, be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Remember, nothing belongs to you but your flesh and blood – nothing else is under your control. 5.33

Make sure you remain straightforward, upright, reverend, serious, unadorned, an ally of justice, pious, kid, affectionate, and doing your duty with a will. The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish acts. (6.30)

The only thing that isn’t worthless is to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don’t. (6.47)

……Truth, justice, self-control, kindness…. (7.63)

Nothing is good except what leads to fairness, and self-control, and courage, and free will. And nothing bad except what does the opposite. (8.1)

Nature of any kind thrives on forward progress, and progress for the rational mind means not accepting falsehood or uncertainty in its perceptions, making unselfish actions its only aim, seeking and shunning only the things it has control over, embracing what nature demands of it – the nature in which it participates, as the leaf’s nature does in a tree. (8.7)

To do harm is to do yourself harm. To do an injustice is to do yourself an injustice – it degrades you. (9.4)

Injustice is a kind of blasphemy. Nature designed rational beings for each other’s sake: to help, not harm, one another, as they deserve. To lie is to blaspheme, too. Because “nature” means the nature of what is. And that which is and that which is the case are closely linked, so that nature is synonymous with truth – the source of all true things. To lie deliberately is to blaspheme – the liar commits deceit, and thus injustice. And likewise to lie without realizing it, because the involuntary liar disrupts the harmony of nature. Nature gave him the means to distinguish between the true and false, andhe neglected them and now can’t tell the difference. (9.1)

Someone despises me? That’s their problem. Mine: not to do or say anything despicable.
Someone hates me. Their problem. Mine: to be patient and cheerful with everyone, including them, ready to show them their mistake, not spitefully, or to show off my self-control, but in an honest, upright way. Never let the gods catch us feeling anger or resentment. As long as you do what’s proper to your nature, and accept what the world’s nature has in store – as long as you work for others’ good, by any and all means – what is there that can harm you? (11.13)

When you start to lose your temper, remember: there’s nothing manly about rage. It’s courtesy and kindness that define a human being – and a man. That’s who possesses strength and nerves and guts, not the angry whiners. To behave like that is to bring you close to impassivity – and so to strength. Pain is the opposite of strength, and so is anger. (11.18)

*As Epicureans we may not altogether agree with revering the gods, but we should respect those who do. Epicurus was always careful to talk politely about the gods, but he didn’t believe they did anything very useful. Most of the time they sat on Mount Olympus, argued and, well, behaved like human beings.

Marcus Aurelius Augustus; 121 – 180 AD) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180, ruling jointly with Lucius Verus until Verus’ death in 169 and jointly with his son, Commodus, from 177. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors.