{"id": "card_n_26a8917f0d9e", "kind": "note", "title": "Aurelius, Meditations 3.12: What is this, that now my fancy is set upon?", "body": "What is this, that now my fancy is set upon? of what things doth it consist? how long can it last? which of all the virtues is the proper virtue for this present use? as whether meekness, fortitude, truth, faith, sincerity, contentation, or any of the rest? Of everything therefore thou must use thyself to say, This immediately comes from God, this by that fatal connection, and concatenation of things, or (which almost comes to one) by some coincidental casualty. And as for this, it proceeds from my neighbour, my kinsman, my fellow: through his ignorance indeed, because he knows not what is truly natural unto him: but I know it, and therefore carry myself towards him according to the natural law of fellowship; that is kindly, and justly. As for those things that of themselves are altogether indifferent, as in my best judgment I conceive everything to deserve more or less, so I carry myself towards it.", "source": {"label": "Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. AD 170)", "url": "", "ref": "aur_03_xii", "authority_tier": "external_aligned"}, "shelf": "classics", "box": "aurelius_meditations", "bands": ["aurelius", "meditations", "stoic", "pre_christian"], "connections": [{"to_card_id": "card_n_26c172d96279", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}, {"to_card_id": "card_n_26317db6c574", "relationship": "same_section", "origin": "nesting_2026_06_12"}, {"to_card_id": "card_spine_classics", "relationship": "member_of", "evidence": "a member of the classics shelf in the keeping"}], "author": "engine", "created_at": "2026-05-19T13:20:58.167955+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-19T19:57:55.539099+00:00", "visibility": "public", "lifecycle_stage": "public", "volatility": "permanent", "metrics": {"paperclips_count": 0, "helpful_count": 0, "not_helpful_count": 0, "cite_count": 4, "walks_through_count": 0, "flagged_count": 0}, "source_hash": "c8127b47213ad3892fd94b759dc4db35aeaabfc5954e5cb195544ce1f8cd8865", "witnesses": [{"class": "manuscript_tradition", "label": "Vaticanus Graecus 1950 — earliest complete Greek MS", "ref": "Vat-Gr-1950"}, {"class": "critical_edition", "label": "Dalfen, Marci Aurelii Antonini Ad Se Ipsum Libri XII (Teubner 1987)", "ref": "Dalfen-Teubner"}, {"class": "translation", "label": "George Long translation (1862) — public domain English", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2680", "ref": "Long-1862"}, {"class": "translation", "label": "Hays translation (Modern Library, 2002)", "ref": "Hays-2002"}, {"class": "republication", "label": "Internet Archive — Meditations Long translation", "url": "https://archive.org/details/meditations00auregoog", "ref": "IA-Meditations"}], "witness_status": "passed", "witness_status_reason": "5 witnesses across 4 independence classes: ['critical_edition', 'manuscript_tradition', 'republication', 'translation']", "surface": "secular", "presentation": {"glyph": "•", "kind_label": "aurelius meditations", "by": "Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. AD 170)", "authority": "external_aligned", "posted": "", "standing": ""}, "neighbors": [{"id": "card_n_26c172d96279", "title": "Aurelius, Meditations 2.2: Let it be thy earnest and incessant care as a Roman and a man to perform what...", "relationship": "same section", "why": "", "href": "/card/card_n_26c172d96279", "resolved": true}, {"id": "card_n_26317db6c574", "title": "Aurelius, Meditations 9.28: And these your professed politicians, the only true practical philosophers of...", "relationship": "same section", "why": "", "href": "/card/card_n_26317db6c574", "resolved": true}, {"id": "card_spine_classics", "title": "The classics — the great books, kept whole", "relationship": "on the shelf of", "why": "a member of the classics shelf in the keeping", "href": "/card/card_spine_classics", "resolved": true}]}