October 4, 2008

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, talked about his passion for reading philosophy and particularly Marcus Aurelius - the stoic philosopher.

I went out to Amazon and bought a copy of ‘Meditations’ - a modern interpretation of it by Gregory Hayes.

Here’s a quote:

Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill will, and selfishness-all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother; therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading - Marcus Aurelius (to himself).

This was a compelling interview. Hard questions were asked, and most were answered frankly. China is in good shape assuming more leaders of Premier Wen Jiabao’s ilk are in the pipeline.

It also reinforces Fareed Zakaria’s position as the best foreign affairs analyst & reporter on Earth. He is certainly a matter of pride for India.

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