Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: As generation is, so also death, a…
As generation is, so also death, a secret of nature's wisdom: a mixture of elements, resolved into the same elements again, a thing surely which no man ought to be ashamed of: in a series of other fatal events and consequences, which a rational creature is subject unto, not improper or incongruous, nor contrary to the natural and proper constitution of man himself.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Death is not a moral failure or an embarrassing flaw in the human design. It is part of the same natural process that brought us here. We are assembled from borrowed materials, sustained for a time, and eventually returned. Marcus uses this thought not to make life bleak, but to remove needless terror and shame. Mortality is not happening only to you; it is the condition of every person you love and every person you envy. Remembering that can sharpen gratitude. The ordinary dinner, the healthy morning, the call from a friend—none of it is guaranteed, which makes it more precious. Today, let the fact of death simplify your priorities. Spend less time pretending you are exempt from change, and more time living in a way that makes your finite time honorable.
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