Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 11.39 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.39
Socrates used to say, What do you want? Souls of rational men or irrational?—Souls of rational men.—Of what rational men? Sound or unsound?—Sound.—Why then do you not seek for them?—Because we have them.—Why then do you fight and quarrel?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.39, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/11.39
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEveryone claims to want sensible, sound-minded people around them, and in fact we all have such minds, so fighting and quarrelling is a contradiction. If we truly prize reason, we should be using it instead of squabbling.
Themes and situations
- Anger
- Community and our duty to others
- Virtue and character
- Judgements and impressions
- Conflict at work
- Family conflict
- Being angry with someone
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