Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Be not angry neither with him whose…
Be not angry neither with him whose breath, neither with him whose arm holes, are offensive. What can he do? such is his breath naturally, and such are his arm holes; and from such, such an effect, and such a smell must of necessity proceed.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
People have bodies, and bodies are sometimes inconvenient, noisy, smelly, sick, or unattractive. Getting angry at this is like getting angry at rain for being wet. Marcus uses a blunt example to remind us that many things we judge harshly are simply facts of human embodiment.
That does not mean ignoring hygiene or refusing to set reasonable boundaries. It means dropping the extra contempt. The coworker who coughs, the stranger who takes up space, the aging parent whose care needs have increased—these are not affronts to your comfort. They are reminders that all of us are vulnerable animals.
Patience begins when we stop treating ordinary human limitations as moral offenses. Today, notice one irritation involving another person's body or habits. Instead of feeding disgust, ask what is within their control and what is not. Respond to the real issue, not to your reflexive annoyance.
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