Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.18 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.18
Is any man afraid of change? Why what can take place without change? What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature? And canst thou take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change? And canst thou be nourished, unless the food undergoes a change? And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change? Dost thou not see then that for thyself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature?
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.18, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.18
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesFear of change makes little sense, since nothing useful happens without it: wood has to burn to heat your bath and food has to be broken down to nourish you. Your own change is just as natural and just as necessary.
Themes and situations
- Change and impermanence
- Fear and anxiety
- Acceptance and fate
- Nature and the cosmos
- Anxiety about the future
- Losing a job
- Moving away or exile
- Getting older
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