Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 5.32 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.32
Why do unskilled and ignorant souls disturb him who has skill and knowledge? What soul then has skill and knowledge? That which knows beginning and end, and knows the reason which pervades all substance and through all time by fixed periods [revolutions] administers the universe.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.32, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/5.32
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA wise person has little reason to be rattled by ignorant people, because real understanding means grasping how the whole of reality is ordered and runs through time. Knowing that makes the confusion of others far less threatening.
Older wording
- “pervades”
- — runs through and fills
- “revolutions”
- — cycles of the universe
Themes and situations
- Peace of mind
- Judgements and impressions
- Nature and the cosmos
- Learning and progress
- Being criticised or insulted
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