Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 10.10 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.10
A spider is proud when it has caught a fly, and another when he has caught a poor hare, and another when he has taken a little fish in a net, and another when he has taken wild boars, and another when he has taken bears, and another when he has taken Sarmatians. Are not these robbers, if thou examinest their opinions?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.10, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/10.10
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEveryone is proud of what they have caught, from a spider with a fly to a general with a conquered people, so pride in conquest is only a difference of scale. Judged by their principles, conquerors are just robbers.
Older wording
- “Sarmatians”
- — a people of the northern frontier whom Rome fought
Themes and situations
- Pride and humility
- Ambition and success
- Virtue and character
- Handling success
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