Finally, disciplined silence is not complicity but self‑governance—it readies the conscience to speak when it matters. Marcus’s practice was action over display; yet he also wrote, “If anyone can show me that what I think or do is not right, I will change” (Meditations 6.21), signaling openness when truth demands words. The sequence is crucial: practice, proof, then pronouncement. When speech emerges from tested habits, it carries an authority listeners recognize—not because it shouts, but because it rings true. [...]
