"You have three parts...the body, the breath, and the mind. Of these, the first two are yours only in so far as you must take care of them; but the third alone is truly yours."
In 399 BC, Socrates sat in a prison cell in Athens. He had been condemned to death by the city he loved. The executioner handed him a cup of hemlock, a deadly neurotoxin.
Most men would've been screaming. They would've been begging for mercy or cursing their enemies. Socrates took the cup "quite readily and cheerfully." He didn't view the execution as a tragedy. He viewed it as a biological process. He spent his final moments comforting his weeping friends. When they broke down in tears, he scolded them gently, saying, "What is this strange outcry? I sent away the women mainly in order that they might not offend in this way, for I have heard that a man should die in peace. Be quiet and have patience."
Socrates understood the anatomy of the self better than anyone. He knew the poison would kill the body (the meat). He knew it would stop the breath (the life force). But he knew the poison could not touch the mind (the reason).
As the numbness crept up his legs, he kept talking philosophy. He kept joking. He kept being Socrates.
Marcus Aurelius breaks it down clearly. We're made of three parts:
- Body: The container. It gets sick, it ages, it dies.
- Breath: The animating spirit or reputation. It's fleeting and shared with animals.
- Mind: The intelligence, the seat of choice.
Marcus argues that the first two are just rentals. You have to feed the body and protect the breath, but you don't own them. Only the Mind is truly yours. It's the "Sovereign Self." It's the only part of you that can't be touched by fire, steel, or slander. Socrates drank the hemlock because he knew they were only killing the rental. The tenant was evicted, but he was unharmed.
Errors & Corrections
- Don't over-insure the rental. We spend billions on plastic surgery, gym memberships, and PR firms to protect the body and the breath. Some pay even more to fix the mind after it's broken, but we spend almost nothing on training the mind so it doesn't break to begin with.
- Don't confuse the vessel with the captain. If you lose a limb, you're not "less" of a person. You're a captain with a damaged ship. The command center is still intact.
- Don't let the servants run the house. The body (hunger, lust, fatigue) is a servant. It should take orders from the mind. When the mind serves the body, you're living upside down.
Applications to Modern Life
Work
You're laid off. The company takes your laptop (body) and your title (breath). You feel like you've lost your identity. You haven't. You still have your skills, your experience, and your work ethic. Those reside in the Sovereign Self. You walk out the door with the most valuable assets in your pocket.
Leadership
A leader who relies on their title ("I'm the Boss!") is relying on "breath." It's weak. A leader who relies on their reason and character leads by the Sovereign Self. People follow them not because they have to, but because they want to.
Athleticism & Sport
An aging athlete watches their speed decline. The "body" is failing. This is a crisis for many. The Stoic athlete shifts the load to the "mind." They play smarter. They use leverage and timing instead of speed. They extend their career by relying on the part that doesn't age.
Politics
Propaganda targets the "breath" of our emotions and our desire to belong to the herd. It bypasses the mind entirely. To be a Sovereign citizen, you must build a firewall. Analyze the claim. Reject the emotional manipulation. Vote with the third part, not the first two.
Social Media
Your profile is "breath." It's digital vapor. It isn't you. If it gets hacked or deleted, you haven't lost a piece of your soul, just a billboard. Don't confuse the billboard with the business.
Interpersonal Relationships
When you love someone, what do you love? If you only love their looks (body) or their status (breath), the love is fragile. It'll fade when they get old or poor. If you love their character (mind), the love is durable. It can survive wrinkles and bankruptcy.
Maxims
- The body is a rental.
- Only the mind is mine.
- Protect the Sovereign.
In-depth Concepts
Somation (Little Body)
Marcus often uses the diminutive Somation to refer to the body. It translates to "little body." He calls himself "a little soul carrying a corpse." This isn't self-hatred, but a technique to reduce the ego's attachment to physical appearance.