Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 12.33 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.33
How does the ruling faculty make use of itself? for all lies in this. But everything else, whether it is in the power of thy will or not, is only lifeless ashes and smoke.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.33, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/12.33
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesWhat matters most is how your mind uses itself, how it reasons and chooses, because everything depends on that. Everything else, whether within your control or not, is dead ash and smoke by comparison.
Older wording
- “ruling faculty”
- — your reasoning mind
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Judgements and impressions
- Virtue and character
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