"I particularly liked [[Marcus Aurelius]]’s observation, written during his own devastating pandemic, that **there are two types of plagues. One can take your life, he said, but the one to worry about is the one that can destroy your character**. One of the most indelible images we have of Marcus is the man breaking down and weeping over the countless victims who had been lost to the virus of his time . . . and **no doubt also venting his frustration at the cruelty and indifference by people he thought he knew, at how much harder it turned out to be to try to do the right thing**." --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[character]], [[pandemic]], [[grief]], [[character]], [[personal-values]] **Source** -- [[202409180127 - B - Right Thing, Right Now]]