Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 4.46 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.46
Always remember the saying of Heraclitus, that the death of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. And think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the reason which governs the universe; and the things which daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak; and that we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.46, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.46
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesRemember that the elements change into one another, and that people often forget where their path leads and quarrel with the very reason that governs the world. Do not go through life on autopilot, speaking and acting as if asleep or just repeating what you were taught as a child.
Older wording
- “whither”
- — to where
- “communion”
- — close, constant contact
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Learning and progress
- Nature and the cosmos
- Death and mortality
- Searching for meaning
- Feeling life is slipping by
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.