Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.8 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.8
Thou hast not leisure [or ability] to read. But thou hast leisure [or ability] to check arrogance; thou hast leisure to be superior to pleasure and pain; thou hast leisure to be superior to love of fame, and not to be vexed at stupid and ungrateful people, nay even to care for them.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.8, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.8
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEven if you have no time or energy for reading and study, you can still work on your character: rein in arrogance, rise above pleasure and pain and the hunger for fame, and stay patient, even caring, toward foolish and ungrateful people.
Older wording
- “leisure”
- — time or capacity
Themes and situations
- Pride and humility
- Self-discipline and habit
- Learning and progress
- Kindness and forgiveness
- Burnout and overwork
- Conflict at work
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.