Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 6.18 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.18
How strangely men act. They will not praise those who are living at the same time and living with themselves; but to be themselves praised by posterity, by those whom they have never seen or ever will see, this they set much value on. But this is very much the same as if thou shouldst be grieved because those who have lived before thee did not praise thee.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.18, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.18
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesIt is odd that people withhold praise from those they live with yet crave the approval of future generations who will never know them. Hungering for praise after you are gone is as silly as being upset that people long ago failed to praise you.
Older wording
- “posterity”
- — future generations
Themes and situations
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Pride and humility
- Time and the present
- Ambition and success
- Handling success
- Searching for meaning
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