Skip to content
What Would Stoics Do

Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE

Meditations 4.37 — Marcus Aurelius

Translation by George Long (1862)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.37

Thou wilt soon die, and thou art not yet simple, not free from perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in acting justly.
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.37 · tr. George Long (1862)Read in context →

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.37, tr. George Long (1862)

https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.37

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

Read Book IV in context →

In plain English

AI-written notes

You will die soon, and you are not yet free of inner turmoil, not yet unafraid of being hurt by outside things, not yet kind toward everyone, and not yet convinced that wisdom is simply acting justly. A blunt self-check on how much work remains.

Older wording

“perturbations”
— inner disturbances and upsets

Themes and situations

  • Learning and progress
  • Death and mortality
  • Virtue and character
  • Fear and anxiety
  • Emotions and the passions
  • Feeling life is slipping by
  • Procrastination

Quote cards

The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.