Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 5.23 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.23
Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both the things which are and the things which are produced. For substance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are in constant change, and the causes work in infinite varieties; and there is hardly anything which stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, this boundless abyss of the past and of the future in which all things disappear. How then is he not a fool who is puffed up with such things or plagued about them and makes himself miserable? for they vex him only for a time, and a short time.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.23, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/5.23
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesRemember how fast everything flows past, like a river, and how past and future swallow all things. Given that, it is foolish to get puffed up over things that will vanish or to make yourself miserable over troubles that last only a short while.
Older wording
- “substance”
- — the underlying matter of the universe
- “puffed up”
- — full of self-importance
Themes and situations
- Change and impermanence
- Time and the present
- Pride and humility
- Fear and anxiety
- Peace of mind
- Anxiety about the future
- Handling success
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