Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 9.23 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.23
As thou thyself art a component part of a social system, so let every act of thine be a component part of social life. Whatever act of thine then has no reference either immediately or remotely to a social end, this tears asunder thy life, and does not allow it to be one, and it is of the nature of a mutiny, just as when in a popular assembly a man acting by himself stands apart from the general agreement.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.23, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/9.23
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesYou are part of a social whole, so each of your actions should serve other people in some way, even indirectly. An act with no link to the common good pulls your life apart and sets you against everyone else, like a lone rebel in an assembly.
Older wording
- “asunder”
- — apart
- “mutiny”
- — a rebellion against a shared order
Themes and situations
- Community and our duty to others
- Duty and roles
- Virtue and character
- Searching for meaning
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