Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 10.25 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.25
He who flies from his master is a runaway; but the law is master, and he who breaks the law is a runaway. And he also who is grieved or angry or afraid, is dissatisfied because something has been or is or shall be of the things which are appointed by him who rules all things, and he is Law, and assigns to every man what is fit. He then who fears or is grieved or is angry is a runaway.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.25, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/10.25
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesFleeing a master makes you a runaway, and since the law of nature is the master, anyone who breaks it is a runaway too. By the same logic, being grieved, angry or afraid amounts to resisting something the ruling order of the universe has assigned.
Older wording
- “runaway”
- — a fugitive slave
Themes and situations
- Acceptance and fate
- Emotions and the passions
- Anger
- Fear and anxiety
- Grief and mourning
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