Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 6.59 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.59
What kind of people are those whom men wish to please, and for what objects, and by what kind of acts? How soon will time cover all things, and how many it has covered already.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.59, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/6.59
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesLook closely at the people whose approval you are chasing, what you want from them and by what means, and you may find it is not worth much. Soon time will bury all of it, as it has already buried so much.
Themes and situations
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Time and the present
- Ambition and success
- Judgements and impressions
- Handling success
- Being criticised or insulted
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