Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.15 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.15
Whatever anyone does or says, I must be good, just as if the gold, or the emerald, or the purple were always saying this. Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.15, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.15
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesNo matter what people do or say, stay true to being good, the way an emerald stays an emerald whatever anyone says or does around it.
Older wording
- “purple”
- — the costly purple dye of royal robes
Themes and situations
- Virtue and character
- What is in our control
- Insult and criticism
- Resilience and endurance
- Being criticised or insulted
- Conflict at work
- An ethical dilemma
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