Marcus Aurelius was smart. He was rich and powerful. He won wars and conquered territories.

But that doesn’t explain why we are still talking about his Meditations so many thousands of years later. As Brand Blandshard would observe of Marcus’s writings 1984,

Few care now about the marches and countermarches of the Roman commanders. What the centuries have clung to is a notebook of thoughts by a man whose real life was largely unknown who put down in the midnight dimness not the events of the day or the plans of the morrow, but something of far more permanent interest, the ideals and aspirations that a rare spirit lived by.

So what were those ideals and aspirations? What did that rare spirit live by?

The open pages of Meditations reveal that spirit quite well, for Meditations begins with a section entitled “Debts and Lessons.” Across seventeen entries and some 2,100 words (a full 10% of the book), Marcus takes the time to acknowledge and codify the lessons he had learned from the important people in his life. As we said recently, it’s remarkable to remember that this book was never to be seen by the people mentioned—it was purely for his own edification that Marcus wanted to remember his grandfather taught him to be courteous. His father taught him to be manly without ostentation; his mother taught him to be generous; his tutor instilled a positive work ethic. We know that Marcus tried to live by the four virtues—in book 3, he said he’d never find anything better in life than courage, discipline, justice and wisdom. In book 10, he added six epithets for himself—values he said that should not be “traded” for any others: Upright. Modest. Straightforward. Sane. Cooperative. Disinterested.

Isn’t that what we’re all pursuing? Isn’t that what we are looking for? The virtues, the code that guided that rare spirit of a man? Isn’t that what we want to take and apply in our own lives?

It’s even remarkable to see what Marcus promised would happen if one followed this prescription. “If you maintain your claim to these epithets,” he wrote, “without caring if others apply them to you or not—you’ll become a new person, living a new life.”

If you want to talk about passing on a legacy, that’s the best you can do. If you want to be admired, be a good person. Live life by a rare spirit. Be in control of yourself. Be generous. Live by those four virtues Marcus lived by. Every day, even if no one gives you credit.

Then you’ll be worthy of lasting and permanent interest.