Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 6.55 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.55
If sailors abused the helmsman or the sick the doctor, would they listen to anybody else; or how could the helmsman secure the safety of those in the ship or the doctor the health of those whom he attends?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.55, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.55
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesPassengers who insult their pilot, or patients who revile their doctor, would have nobody else to turn to and could not be kept safe or well. The analogy hints that quarrelling with whatever guides and cares for you is self-defeating.
Older wording
- “helmsman”
- — the person steering the ship
Themes and situations
- Community and our duty to others
- Nature and the cosmos
- Acceptance and fate
- Leadership and power
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