Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 10.24 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.24
What is my ruling faculty now to me? And of what nature am I now making it? And for what purpose am I now using it? Is it void of understanding? Is it loosed and rent asunder from social life? Is it melted into and mixed with the poor flesh so as to move together with it?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.24, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/10.24
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesCheck in on your own mind regularly with pointed questions: what state is it in, what am I making of it, and what am I using it for? Has it lost its good sense, cut itself off from other people, or sunk into the pull of the body?
Older wording
- “ruling faculty”
- — your reasoning mind
- “rent asunder”
- — torn apart
Themes and situations
- Self-discipline and habit
- Judgements and impressions
- Learning and progress
- Virtue and character
- Searching for meaning
- Breaking a bad habit
Quote cards
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