Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 11.27 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.27
The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning look to the heavens that we may be reminded of those bodies which continually do the same things and in the same manner perform their work, and also be reminded of their purity and nudity. For there is no veil over a star.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.27, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/11.27
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA morning habit from the Pythagoreans: look up at the sky to remember how steadily the stars do their work, and how pure and unhidden they are, with nothing covering them. The point is to take that regularity and openness as a model for your own conduct.
Older wording
- “Pythagoreans”
- — followers of Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician
- “nudity”
- — bareness, having nothing hidden
Themes and situations
- Peace of mind
- Nature and the cosmos
- Simplicity and frugality
- Virtue and character
- Anxiety about the future
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