Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.22 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.22
It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong. And this happens, if when they do wrong it occurs to thee that they are kinsmen, and that they do wrong through ignorance and unintentionally, and that soon both of you will die; and above all, that the wrongdoer has done thee no harm, for he has not made thy ruling faculty worse than it was before.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.22, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.22
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesLoving even those who wrong you is a distinctly human capacity, and it becomes possible when you remember that they are fellow humans, that they act out of ignorance, that you will both soon die, and that their wrongdoing has not actually made your own character any worse.
Older wording
- “kinsmen”
- — relatives, meaning fellow human beings
- “ruling faculty”
- — your reasoning mind and character
Themes and situations
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Anger
- Justice and fairness
- Community and our duty to others
- Betrayal
- Being angry with someone
- Being treated unfairly
- Family conflict
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