Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 10.9 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.9
Mimi, war, astonishment, torpor, slavery, will daily wipe out those holy principles of thine. How many things without studying nature dost thou imagine, and how many dost thou neglect? But it is thy duty so to look on and so to do everything, that at the same time the power of dealing with circumstances is perfected, and the contemplative faculty is exercised, and the confidence which comes from the knowledge of each several thing is maintained without showing it, but yet not concealed. For when wilt thou enjoy simplicity, when gravity, and when the knowledge of every several thing, both what it is in substance, and what place it has in the universe, and how long it is formed to exist and of what things it is compounded, and to whom it can belong, and who are able both to give it and take it away?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.9, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/10.9
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesThe shows, wars, shocks, sluggishness and drudgery of daily life steadily wear away your principles, so you have to keep studying how things really are. Look at and handle everything so that your ability to deal with circumstances improves and you can calmly judge what each thing is, how long it lasts and who controls it.
Older wording
- “Mimi”
- — mime shows, coarse theatrical entertainment
- “torpor”
- — sluggish numbness
- “gravity”
- — seriousness and dignity
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
- Self-discipline and habit
- Judgements and impressions
- Simplicity and frugality
- Feeling life is slipping by
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