Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 2.3 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.3
All that is from the gods is full of Providence. That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by Providence. From thence all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe, of which thou art a part. But that is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature. Now the universe is preserved, as by the changes of the elements so by the changes of things compounded of the elements. Let these principles be enough for thee, let them always be fixed opinions. But cast away the thirst after books, that thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to the gods.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.3, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/2.3
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEverything that happens is woven into an ordered whole of which you are a part, and what the whole brings is good for each part. Hold to these convictions and stop hungering for more reading, so that you meet your end thankful rather than complaining.
Older wording
- “Providence”
- — the rational order of the universe
- “involution”
- — tangled interconnection
- “murmuring”
- — grumbling, complaining
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Nature and the cosmos
- Gratitude
- Death and mortality
- Fear of death
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