3.4  He remembers the kinship of all rational beings, and that caring for all men is in accordance with man’s nature. Nevertheless, he should not hold to the opinions of all, but only of those who live their lives in agreement with nature. He will constantly remind himself what sort of people they are who do not lead such lives – what they are like both at home and abroad, by night and by day, they and the polluting company they keep. So he disregards even the praise of such men – these are people who are not even satisfied with themselves.

Have empathy for all, but only care about the opinions of those you respect. The easier path would be to either worry about the opinions of all, or not care about those who live lives out of balance, but Marcus challenges himself here to a sort of radical empathy, even with those living lives out of agreement with nature. A harder task.