Question 4: Statement of Gratitude
First, please read Book One of The Meditations of Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius (link below).
Required Reading:
Meditations (Book1)
Optional Resource:
Background information about Stoicism
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/stoicism/
Additional background for reflection: a philosophical perspective on gratitude…
“Aware only of his own satisfactions and his own happiness, hoarding them as a miser hoards his coin . . . the egoist cannot be grateful. Ingratitude is not the incapacity to receive but the inability to give back–in the form of joy or love–a little of the joy that was received or experienced. This is why ingratitude is so pervasive a vice. [Ungrateful people] absorb joy as others absorb light, for egoism is a black hole.”
–Andre Comte-Sponville, Professor of Philosophy at the Sorbonne (France)
Question:
[a] Write a concise statement of gratitude (400 words or less) identifying the ethical and intellectual debts you owe to family members, teachers, or friends. Fictitious names are permitted, but the statement of gratitude should be genuine.
————————————————————————————————
Identify the author in your answer, either in the sentence (e.g., “Abraham Lincoln said, …”) or at the end of the sentence in parenthesis.
Use quotation marks or block indentation when you incorporate any language from any source, including all seminar readings. Cite the source immediately thereafter. Also, even if you don’t use a direct quotation, immediately identify the source if you use an author’s core ideas or phraseology. Just mention the author’s name when you do so (for example, “As Greenspan suggested . . . “)
If in doubt, it’s always prudent to include quotation marks and a citation.
