University Libraries Promotion and Tenure Recognition

Marcus Aurelius's Meditations is not so much a philosophy text as it is a diary filled with notes the author made for himself on how to be a better man.  What's surprising is how much of his 2000-year-old advice is relevant today and (in my view) how especially pertinent it is to those of us in academia. Here is an example of some great guidance for anyone in our line of work:

"How to act: / Never under compulsion, out of selfishness, without forethought, with misgivings. / Don't gussy up your thoughts. / No surplus words or unnecessary actions." (III. 5)