Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: 'It will but little avail thee, to turn…
'It will but little avail thee, to turn thine anger and indignation upon the things themselves that have fallen across unto thee. For as for them, they are not sensible of it, &c. Thou shalt but make thyself a laughing-stock; both unto the Gods and men, &c.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Getting angry at a delayed flight, a broken app, or a rainy day does not punish the thing that inconvenienced you. It has no awareness of your outrage. The only person paying for the tantrum is you: your peace disappears, your judgment gets worse, and everyone nearby has to endure the fallout. Marcus is not saying that setbacks are pleasant or that injustice should be ignored. He is saying that anger directed at impersonal events is wasted energy. Address what can be fixed. Accept what cannot. If a colleague made a mistake, respond firmly if needed, but do not turn the whole day into a trial against reality. The event has already happened. Your next move is still yours. Today, notice where you are arguing with something that cannot answer back, and put that energy toward a useful action instead.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius As thou dost purpose to live, when thou hast retired thyself to some such place, where neither roarer nor harlot is:…
- Marcus Aurelius Others may block an act, but not your purpose or disposition. The mind can adapt, making a barrier serve its aim: what…
- Marcus Aurelius A black or malign disposition, an effeminate disposition; an hard inexorable disposition, a wild inhuman disposition,…