Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.19 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.19
Through the universal substance as through a furious torrent all bodies are carried, being by their nature united with and cooperating with the whole, as the parts of our body with one another. How many a Chrysippus, how many a Socrates, how many an Epictetus has time already swallowed up? And let the same thought occur to thee with reference to every man and thing.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.19, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.19
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesAll things are swept along like objects in a rushing torrent, and time has already swallowed even great thinkers like Chrysippus, Socrates and Epictetus. Apply the same thought to every person and thing, including yourself.
Older wording
- “torrent”
- — a violently rushing stream
- “universal substance”
- — all the matter of the universe
Themes and situations
- Change and impermanence
- Death and mortality
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Time and the present
- Fear of death
Quote cards
The opening line of this passage as an image, with its citation — for sharing or keeping.