How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter)
Quote #10
If, then, when you finally come close to your exit, you have left all else behind and value only your directing mind and the divinity within you, if your fear is not that you will cease to live, but that you never started a life in accordance with nature, then you will be a man worthy of the universe that gave you birth. You will no longer be a stranger in your own country... (12.2)
Marcus has spoken before about being a "stranger in a strange land." He especially feels this when he's confronted with things like the transience of human existence. At the very end of this work, he's found the antidote for this feeling of alienation: becoming what the gods intend, by acknowledging what we have in common with them. In this case, it's reason. If Marcus can live his life in accordance with his principles, he will become more himself—more in tune with the true nature of a man.