Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 4.44 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.44
Everything which happens is as familiar and well known as the rose in spring and the fruit in summer; for such is disease, and death, and calumny, and treachery, and whatever else delights fools or vexes them.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.44, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.44
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesWhatever happens is as ordinary and predictable as spring roses and summer fruit, and that includes illness, death, slander and betrayal. Seeing hardship as part of life's normal cycle removes the shock.
Older wording
- “calumny”
- — slander, false accusations
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Adversity and hardship
- Preparing for difficulty
- Change and impermanence
- Betrayal
- Illness or diagnosis
- Being criticised or insulted
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