Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 3.10 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.10
Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and besides bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives, and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.10, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/3.10
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesStrip away the non-essentials and hold to a few things, since you only ever live in the present moment, a point between a gone past and an unknown future. Life is short, your corner of the earth is small, and even lasting fame depends on a chain of short-lived people who barely know themselves.
Older wording
- “indivisible point”
- — a moment with no length, the present
- “posthumous fame”
- — fame after death
Themes and situations
- Time and the present
- Death and mortality
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Simplicity and frugality
- Change and impermanence
- Fear of death
- Feeling life is slipping by
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