Aurelius - Meditations 4:18: Stoic Tznius

The Stoic Jew

How great a rest from labor he gains who does not look to what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only to what he himself is doing, in order that exactly this may be just and pure, or in accord with a good man's conduct. 'Do not look round at the depraved morals of others,' but run straight along the line without deviating from it.
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Meditations 2:8
Men are not easily seen as to be brought into evil case by failure to consider what passes in another’s soul; but they who do not read aright the motions of their own soul are bound to be in evil case.
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Micha 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good! What does Hashem seek from you? Only the doing of justice, loving kindness, and walking with tznius with your God.
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Mivchar ha’Penimim – Gate of Tznius
They asked the wise man: “What is tznius?” He replied: “That a person experience shame from himself.”
They said to the wise man: “What is tznius?” He replied: “Wisdom.”
They said to the wise man: “What is tznius?” He relied: “That you don’t do in secret what you are ashamed of in public.”
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Rambam: Mishneh Torah, Sefer ha’Mada, Hilchos Teshuvah 4:4
There are five things which the doer is unlikely to do teshuvah from, since they are light matters in the eyes of the majority of people; consequently, the sinner will imagine that this is not a sin. These are they … (4) One who takes pride in the disgrace of his fellow; he says in his heart that this is not a sin, since his fellow isn’t present and didn’t suffer shame and he didn’t shame him [directly], but only compared his good actions and wisdom to the actions and wisdom of his friend so that from that general [comparison] to him he would appear esteemed and his friend degraded.
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Charles Ives, Thoreau Journal, vol.1, 156
A man's life should be a stately march to a sweet but unheard music, and when to his fellows it shall seem irregular and inharmonious, he will only be stepping to a livelier measure, or his nicer ear hurry him into a thousand symphonies and concordant variations.
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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Letters from a Stoic Master (Seneca)
The Discourses of Epictetus
The Enchiridion (Handbook) of Epictetus
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