Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.29 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.29
Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to another. Divide and distribute every object into the causal [formal] and the material. Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which is done by a man stay there where the wrong was done.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.29, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.29
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesClear away the stories your imagination adds, stop letting impulses jerk you around like a puppet, and stay in the present. See events for what they are, remember you will die, and leave someone else's wrongdoing with the person who did it instead of carrying it yourself.
Older wording
- “imagination”
- — the mental pictures and stories you add to events
- “causal”
- — the cause or form of a thing, as opposed to the material it is made of
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Time and the present
- Anger
- Emotions and the passions
- Anxiety about the future
- Being angry with someone
Quote cards
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