Marcus Aurelius · 121–180 CE
Meditations 9.32 — Marcus Aurelius
Translation by George Long (1862)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.32
Thou canst remove out of the way many useless things among those which disturb thee, for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou wilt then gain for thyself ample space by comprehending the whole universe in thy mind, and by contemplating the eternity of time, and observing the rapid change of every several thing, how short is the time from birth to dissolution, and the illimitable time before birth as well as the equally boundless time after dissolution.
Cite this passage
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.32, tr. George Long (1862)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/meditations/9.32
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (1862). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesMany of the things that trouble you exist only in your opinion of them, so you can simply drop them. Then give yourself room by picturing the whole universe and the vastness of time, and how brief life is between the endless time before birth and the endless time after death.
Older wording
- “dissolution”
- — death, the breaking up of the body
- “illimitable”
- — limitless
Themes and situations
- Judgements and impressions
- Peace of mind
- Change and impermanence
- Time and the present
- Anxiety about the future
- Burnout and overwork
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