Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 5.36 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.36
Do not be carried along inconsiderately by the appearance of things, but give help to all according to thy ability and their fitness; and if they should have sustained loss in matters which are indifferent, do not imagine this to be a damage. For it is a bad habit. But as the old man, when he went away, asked back his foster-child’s top, remembering that it was a top, so do thou in this case also. When thou art calling out on the Rostra, hast thou forgotten, man, what these things are?—Yes; but they are objects of great concern to these people—wilt thou too then be made a fool for these things?—I was once a fortunate man, but I lost it, I know not how.—But fortunate means that a man has assigned to himself a good fortune: and a good fortune is good disposition of the soul, good emotions, good actions.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.36, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/5.36
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDo not be swept away by how things look. Help people as far as you reasonably can, but do not treat their loss of external things as a real injury, since that feeds a bad habit; like an old man handing back a child's toy while remembering it is only a toy. Real good fortune is a good state of mind, good feelings and good actions.
Older wording
- “Rostra”
- — the speakers' platform in the Roman Forum
- “indifferent”
- — neither good nor bad in themselves
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Wealth and poverty
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Virtue and character
- What is in our control
- Losing money
- Losing a job
- Money, status and wanting more
Quote cards
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