Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: To suffer change can be no hurt; as no…
To suffer change can be no hurt; as no benefit it is, by change to attain to being. The age and time of the world is as it were a flood and swift current, consisting of the things that are brought to pass in the world. For as soon as anything hath appeared, and is passed away, another succeeds, and that also will presently out of sight.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
Change is not automatically an injury, and staying the same is not automatically a victory. Life moves like a current: a job ends, a child grows up, a friendship changes, a season passes, and another moment replaces this one before we have fully noticed it.
We often treat change as evidence that something has gone wrong. We want the team, the house, the body, and the relationship to remain fixed. But permanence was never part of the deal. What matters is not whether the current keeps moving; it will. What matters is whether you can meet its movement without losing your footing.
The next change in your life may bring grief, opportunity, or both. Do not label it too quickly. Ask instead: What does this moment require of me now? Adapt without surrendering your values. The river moves on; your task is to move with it intelligently.
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