One's own joy. "Different things delight different people" (εὐφραίνει ἄλλον ἄλλο) — but Marcus's own "delight" is to keep the TERMruling faculty "sound" (ὑγιές). DOGMAJoy is attached not to the external but to the state of one's own governing instance — the one thing always in his power (cf. 6.7 — rest in passing from act to act; 7.28 — γαλήνη from just action).

Three marks of health. The "sound" ἡγεμονικόν is described by three marks that fall onto the disciplines. (1) DOGMANot to turn away "from any human being" (μὴ ἀποστρεφόμενον ἄνθρωπον) — the discipline of action: goodwill without exceptions. (2) DOGMANot to turn away "from anything that befalls people" either, but to look on all with "kindly eyes" (εὐμενέσιν ὀφθαλμοῖς) and to "receive" it — the discipline of desire: the acceptance of fate. (3) TERMTo "use each thing according to its worth" (κατ’ ἀξίαν) — the discipline of assent: the exact appraisal of the value of things (8.29). The health of the mind just is this threefold openness: open to people, to events, and to the right measure. The strict terms by the word are ἡγεμονικόν, ἀξία. The governing discipline is desire (to rejoice only in the health of the ruling part), the sustaining one action (not to turn away from people).