Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 1.6 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 1.6
From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about incantations and the driving away of daemons and such things; and not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give myself up passionately to such things; and to endure freedom of speech; and to have become intimate with philosophy; and to have been a hearer, first of Bacchius, then of Tandasis and Marcianus; and to have written dialogues in my youth; and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever else of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 1.6, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/1.6
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesA teacher showed him how not to waste energy on trivial things, not to believe in charlatans and magic tricks, to take frank criticism without flinching, and to embrace philosophy and a hard, simple way of living.
Older wording
- “daemons”
- — spirits
- “freedom of speech”
- — blunt, honest criticism from others
- “plank bed”
- — a hard, simple bed used in ascetic training
Themes and situations
- Learning and progress
- Self-discipline and habit
- Simplicity and frugality
- Speech and silence
- Being criticised or insulted
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