Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 12.2 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.2
God sees the minds [ruling principles] of all men bared of the material vesture and rind and impurities. For with his intellectual part alone he touches the intelligence only which has flowed and been derived from himself into these bodies. And if thou also usest thyself to do this, thou wilt rid thyself of thy much trouble. For he who regards not the poor flesh which envelops him, surely will not trouble himself by looking after raiment and dwelling and fame and suchlike externals and show.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.2, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/12.2
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesTry to see people, and yourself, as a god would, as minds stripped of body, clothing and status. If you look past the outer shell, you stop fussing over clothes, houses, fame and show, and a lot of your trouble falls away.
Older wording
- “raiment”
- — clothing
- “externals”
- — outward things like possessions and status
Themes and situations
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Simplicity and frugality
- Nature and the cosmos
- Judgements and impressions
- Money, status and wanting more
- Envy and comparison
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