“Say to yourself in the morning: I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.”Marcus Aurelius · Gânduri către sine · 180 · Cartea II, 1
The line describes a morning mental exercise, known today as premeditatio malorum. The point is not to become cynical, but realistic: people will misbehave, because that is what people do. If you expect this, their behavior will not surprise you and will not break your peace. The mechanism is psychological: anger comes from expecting others to be reasonable. A manager who pictures in advance a meeting with an aggressive colleague responds calmly, as if to say: I knew you were like this, and I still intend to work with you.
Why it matters For anyone who works with people: it turns the daily frustration with difficult colleagues or clients into a calm, rehearsed exercise.