"There is the old fable about the emperor who had no clothes and the sycophants who didn’t want to tell him. In real life, the emperor [[Hadrian]] lorded over a court filled with such people. It was why he saw so much potential in a young boy named [[Marcus Aurelius]], **who was drawn early to philosophy and who always seemed to say what he thought, even to the powerful**. Hadrian nicknamed him [[Verissimus]], which meant the “the truest one.”" --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[truth-to-power]], [[honesty]], [[conflict]], [[personal-values]], [[character]], **Source** --