Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 8.25 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.25
Lucilla saw Verus die, and then Lucilla died. Secunda saw Maximus die, and then Secunda died. Epitynchanus saw Diotimus die, and Epitynchanus died. Antoninus saw Faustina die, and then Antoninus died. Such is everything. Celer saw Hadrian die, and then Celer died. And those sharp-witted men, either seers or men inflated with pride, where are they? For instance the sharp-witted men, Charax and Demetrius the Platonist and Eudæmon, and anyone else like them. All ephemeral, dead long ago. Some indeed have not been remembered even for a short time, and others have become the heroes of fables, and again others have disappeared even from fables. Remember this then, that this little compound, thyself, must either be dissolved, or thy poor breath must be extinguished, or be removed and placed elsewhere.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.25, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/8.25
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEveryone who watched someone else die soon died too, even the famously clever and proud, and many are forgotten or survive only in legends and then not even there. Remember that you, a small composite of body and breath, will also be broken up, extinguished or moved elsewhere.
Older wording
- “ephemeral”
- — lasting only a short time
- “compound”
- — the mixture of body and breath that makes you
Themes and situations
- Death and mortality
- Change and impermanence
- Reputation and others' opinions
- Time and the present
- Fear of death
- Getting older
Quote cards
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