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What Would Stoics Do

Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE

Meditations 12.10 — Marcus Aurelius

Translation by George Long (1862)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.10

See what things are in themselves, dividing them into matter, form and purpose.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.10 · tr. George Long (1862)Read in context →

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Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.10, tr. George Long (1862)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/12.10

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences

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In plain English

AI-written notes

Analyse anything by splitting it into what it is made of, its shape or structure, and what it is for. This habit lets you see a thing as it really is rather than through your first reaction.

Older wording

“matter”
— the raw material something is made of
“form”
— its shape or structure

Themes and situations

  • Judgements and impressions
  • Nature and the cosmos

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