Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.10 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.10
Repentance is a kind of self-reproof for having neglected something useful; but that which is good must be something useful, and the perfect good man should look after it. But no such man would ever repent of having refused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is neither good nor useful.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.10, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.10
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesRegret is blaming yourself for neglecting something useful, and what is genuinely good must be useful. Since nobody regrets turning down a pleasure of the senses, pleasure is neither good nor useful, which makes it easier to refuse temptation.
Older wording
- “Repentance”
- — regret
Themes and situations
- Pleasure and pain
- Virtue and character
- Self-discipline and habit
- Desire and craving
- Breaking a bad habit
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