Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 9.28 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.28
The periodic movements of the universe are the same, up and down from age to age. And either the universal intelligence puts itself in motion for every separate effect, and if this is so, be thou content with that which is the result of its activity; or it puts itself in motion once, and everything else comes by way of sequence in a manner; or indivisible elements are the origin of all things.—In a word, if there is a god, all is well; and if chance rules, do not thou also be governed by it. Soon will the earth cover us all: then the earth, too, will change, and the things also which result from change will continue to change forever, and these again forever. For if a man reflects on the changes and transformations which follow one another like wave after wave and their rapidity, he will despise everything which is perishable.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.28, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/9.28
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesWhether the world runs on divine intelligence, a chain of causes, or random atoms, your response is the same: if there is a plan, accept what it brings, and if there is only chance, do not let chance rule you. Everything perishes and changes in waves, which should loosen your grip on all perishable things.
Older wording
- “universal intelligence”
- — the mind that orders the whole cosmos
- “indivisible elements”
- — atoms
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Change and impermanence
- Nature and the cosmos
- What is in our control
- Anxiety about the future
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