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What Would Stoics Do

Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE

Meditations 2.9 — Marcus Aurelius

Translation by George Long (1862)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.9

This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole; and that there is no one who hinders thee from always doing and saying the things which are according to the nature of which thou art a part.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.9 · tr. George Long (1862)Read in context →

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Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.9, tr. George Long (1862)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/2.9

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

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In plain English

AI-written notes

Keep in mind how the universe works and where you fit into it. Nobody can stop you from acting and speaking in line with that nature, so your own integrity is always within your power.

Older wording

“the nature of the whole”
— the order of the universe

Themes and situations

  • Nature and the cosmos
  • What is in our control
  • Virtue and character
  • Searching for meaning

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