Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 6.36 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.36
Asia, Europe are corners of the universe: all the sea a drop in the universe; Athos a little clod of the universe: all the present time is a point in eternity. All things are little, changeable, perishable. All things come from thence, from that universal ruling power either directly proceeding or by way of sequence. And accordingly the lion’s gaping jaws, and that which is poisonous, and every harmful thing, as a thorn, as mud, are after-products of the grand and beautiful. Do not then imagine that they are of another kind from that which thou dost venerate, but form a just opinion of the source of all.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.36, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.36
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesOn the scale of the universe, continents, seas and mountains are specks and the present moment is a point in eternity. Even harmful things like a lion's jaws or a thorn are by-products of a beautiful whole, so do not treat them as foreign to the order you respect.
Older wording
- “Athos”
- — a famous mountain in northern Greece
- “after-products”
- — by-products or consequences
- “venerate”
- — deeply respect
Themes and situations
- Nature and the cosmos
- Change and impermanence
- Acceptance and fate
- Judgements and impressions
- Anxiety about the future
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.