Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.35 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.35
As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all the other powers that it has, so we have received from it this power also. For as the universal nature converts and fixes in its predestined place everything which stands in the way and opposes it, and makes such things a part of itself, so also the rational animal is able to make every hindrance its own material, and to use it for such purposes as it may have designed.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.35, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.35
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesJust as nature takes whatever stands in its way and absorbs it into its own plan, a reasoning person can turn any obstacle into raw material for their own purposes. This ability to make every setback useful is something you were born with.
Older wording
- “hindrance”
- — obstacle
- “predestined”
- — fixed in advance by fate
Themes and situations
- Adversity and hardship
- Resilience and endurance
- What is in our control
- Nature and the cosmos
- A career setback
- Failure and mistakes
- A business failing
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.