“Remove the judgement, and you have removed the thought 'I am hurt'; remove the thought 'I am hurt', and the hurt itself is removed.”Marcus Aurelius · Gânduri către sine · 180 · Gânduri către sine, Cartea IV, 7
Suffering is created by your judgment, not by the event itself.
Marcus Aurelius separates reality from interpretation. When someone insults you, the physical event is one thing, but emotional pain arises only when you think 'I am hurt.' If you withdraw that judgment, the sense of injury vanishes. For example, if a colleague makes a sharp remark, you can choose not to label it a personal attack; then you feel no need to react defensively. It is an exercise in cognitive detachment.
Why it matters It helps you reduce unnecessary emotional suffering by learning to separate facts from your automatic interpretations.