Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 2.2 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.2
Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer either be dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.2, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/2.2
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesYou are mostly flesh and breath, and only your reasoning mind is truly yours to command. Stop distracting yourself, stop letting selfish impulses jerk you around like a puppet, and stop resenting your present situation or dreading what comes next.
Older wording
- “ruling part”
- — your reasoning mind
- “contexture”
- — weave or structure
- “unsocial movements”
- — selfish impulses that work against other people
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Judgements and impressions
- Death and mortality
- Time and the present
- Emotions and the passions
- Anxiety about the future
- Feeling life is slipping by
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