"Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you.
Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours."
จงอย่าใช้ชีวิตราวกับว่าจะอยู่อีกหนึ่งพันปี
ชะตากรรมอยู่แค่เอื้อม จงดำรงชีวิตอย่างงดงามในขณะที่ชีวิตและอำนาจในการกำหนดชะตากรรมยังเป็นของท่านอยู่
--Marcus Aurelius
(A.D. 121-180, Roman Emperor and Philosopher, the last of the Five Good Emperors)
คัดมาจาก คอลัมน์อาหารสมอง ของวีรกร ตรีเศศ มติชนสุดสัปดาห์ 18-24 พ.ย. 2548
Marcus Aurelius was the same Emperor who was killed by his son Commodus in the movie Gladiator.
However, the actual event was not as dramatic as in the movie. One of the history sites gives this info:
In early 180, while Marcus and Commodus were fighting in the north, Marcus became ill. Which disease carried him off we do not know, but for some days Marcus took no food or drink, being now eager to die.[[21]] He died on March 17, in the city of Vindobona, although one source reports that it was in Sirmium. His ashes were brought to Rome and placed in Hadrian's mausoleum. Commodus succeeded to all power without opposition, and soon withdrew from the war, thereby stymieing his father's designs and ambitions. It was a change of rulers that proved disastrous for people and empire. Dio called the succession a change from a golden kingdom to one of iron and rust.[[22]]
