Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: And indeed we must needs commit many…
And indeed we must needs commit many evils, if we incline to any of these things, more or less, with an opinion of any difference. But if we mind and fancy those things only, as good and bad, which wholly depend of our own wills, there is no more occasion why we should either murmur against the Gods, or be at enmity with any man.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Most misery begins when we call external things absolute goods or evils. If money, status, health, comfort, or other people’s approval must go exactly our way for life to be worthwhile, then we will be anxious when we have them and bitter when we lose them. Marcus redirects our moral attention to what truly belongs to us: our choices, values, and use of circumstances. This does not mean money and health are meaningless. They matter, and we should care for them responsibly. But they are not the measure of whether we have lived well. When we understand that difference, we have less reason to blame God, fate, or other people for our inner state. Today, identify the external thing you are treating as the condition for peace. Then ask how you could act with integrity whether it arrives or not.
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