Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.56 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.56
To my own free will the free will of my neighbour is just as indifferent as his poor breath and flesh. For though we are made especially for the sake of one another, still the ruling power of each of us has its own office, for otherwise my neighbour’s wickedness would be my harm, which God has not willed in order that my unhappiness may not depend on another.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.56, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.56
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesAnother person's choices and character cannot affect my own choices any more than their breath or body can. We exist for one another, but each mind governs itself, and that is deliberate, because otherwise someone else's badness could ruin me and my happiness would depend on them.
Older wording
- “free will”
- — your power of choice and judgement
- “indifferent”
- — neither good nor bad for me, and unable to touch my character
- “ruling power”
- — your governing mind
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Community and our duty to others
- Virtue and character
- Freedom
- Conflict at work
- Family conflict
- Being angry with someone
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