Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Why then shouldest thou so earnestly…
Why then shouldest thou so earnestly either seek after these things, or fly from them, as though they should endure for ever? Yet a little while, and thine eyes will be closed up, and for him that carries thee to thy grave shall another mourn within a while after.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
We treat many things as though they have permanent jurisdiction over us: an argument, a reputation, a purchase, a setback, a grudge. Yet the people involved will pass, and so will we. Even the person who carries your coffin will soon be carried by others. This is not meant to be morbid for its own sake. It is a clean dose of perspective. Why surrender your peace to a comment that will be forgotten? Why chase a status marker that cannot follow you very far? The fact that life is brief does not make your choices trivial; it makes them more precious. There is limited time to be kind, useful, curious, and present. Today, let the thought of impermanence reduce one needless pursuit or resentment. Spend the recovered attention on something that will matter while you are here.
Related passages
- Marcus Aurelius Let thy thoughts ever run upon them, who once for some one thing or other, were moved with extraordinary indignation;…
- Marcus Aurelius Again, consider now the times of Trajan. There likewise thou seest the very self-same things, and that age also is now…
- Marcus Aurelius But whatsoever it is that thou art about, remember to call upon the Gods. And as for the time how long thou shalt live…