Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.58 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.58
He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither wilt thou feel any harm; and if thou shalt acquire another kind of sensation, thou wilt be a different kind of living being and thou wilt not cease to live.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.58, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.58
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesFear of death is fear either of losing all awareness or of having a different kind of awareness. If you feel nothing, nothing can hurt you, and if you experience something new, you are simply a different kind of living being and have not stopped living.
Older wording
- “sensation”
- — awareness, felt experience
Themes and situations
- Death and mortality
- Fear and anxiety
- Fear of death
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