Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 11.21 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.21
He who has not one and always the same object in life, cannot be one and the same all through his life. But what I have said is not enough, unless this also is added, what this object ought to be. For as there is not the same opinion about all the things which in some way or other are considered by the majority to be good, but only about some certain things, that is, things which concern the common interest; so also ought we to propose to ourselves an object which shall be of a common kind [social] and political. For he who directs all his own efforts to this object, will make all his acts alike, and thus will always be the same.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.21, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/11.21
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA person without one consistent aim cannot be the same person throughout life, and the aim must be a shared one, something serving the common good, because people agree only on matters of common interest. If you direct all your effort toward that single social goal, your acts will be consistent and so will you.
Older wording
- “political”
- — concerned with life in a community, not party politics
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- Community and our duty to others
- Duty and roles
- Learning and progress
- Searching for meaning
- A hard decision
Quote cards
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