Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 4.18 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.18
How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure; or as Agathon says, look not round at the depraved morals of others, but run straight along the line without deviating from it.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.18, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.18
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesYou save yourself a lot of trouble by not watching what your neighbours say, do or think, and focusing only on making your own actions just and clean. Do not look around at other people's bad behaviour; keep running straight along your own line.
Older wording
- “depraved morals”
- — corrupt behaviour
Themes and situations
- What is in our control
- Virtue and character
- Envy and comparison
- Speech and silence
- Conflict at work
- Envy and comparison
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