Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 4.43 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.43
Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.43, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.43
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesTime is a violent river of events: each thing is seen and swept away as the next one arrives, and that will be swept away too. Nothing stays, so do not cling to the moment.
Themes and situations
- Time and the present
- Change and impermanence
- Feeling life is slipping by
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