Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 4.5 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.5
Death is such as generation is, a mystery of nature; a composition out of the same elements, and a decomposition into the same; and altogether not a thing of which any man should be ashamed, for it is not contrary to the nature of a reasonable animal, and not contrary to the reason of our constitution.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.5, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/4.5
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesDeath is as natural as birth: elements come together and later come apart again. It is nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of, since it fits the nature of a reasoning animal.
Older wording
- “generation”
- — birth, coming into being
- “decomposition”
- — breaking down into parts
Themes and situations
- Death and mortality
- Nature and the cosmos
- Acceptance and fate
- Fear and anxiety
- Fear of death
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.