Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 7.33 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.33
About pain: The pain which is intolerable carries us off; but that which lasts a long time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its own tranquility by retiring into itself, and the ruling faculty is not made worse. But the parts which are harmed by pain, let them, if they can, give their opinion about it.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.33, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/7.33
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesUnbearable pain ends quickly one way or another, and pain that lasts a long time is bearable, while your mind can keep its calm by withdrawing into itself. Your reasoning is not made worse by pain, and the parts of the body that are hurt can report their own opinion if they like.
Older wording
- “ruling faculty”
- — your reasoning mind
Themes and situations
- Pleasure and pain
- Resilience and endurance
- Illness and the body
- Illness or diagnosis
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