Meditations · Book II
Meditations, II, 7
Chapter 7 of Book II of the Meditations. First the passage as Stoïque shows it, after Long, 1862; then the whole chapter, word for word, in that edition, and the same chapter in French.
The passage in the app
Do outward things distract you? Give yourself time to learn something new and good, and stop being whirled around.
— MARCUS AURELIUS · MEDITATIONS, II, 7
After Long, 1862 — modernized.
On the widgets
Not every widget family holds a passage this long. The app never cuts one: where it does not fit, a shorter passage takes its place, with its reference. The circular widget carries the locator alone.
The whole chapter in Long’s 1862 edition
Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around. But then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way; for those too are triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts.
Source: Project Gutenberg · corpus/sources/marcus-aurelius-meditations-long-1862.txt, l. 2564
In French
Tu es distrait par les incidents extérieurs ; donne-toi le loisir de toujours ajouter quelque chose à ta connaissance du bien et cesse de t’étourdir en vain. Préserve-toi, en outre, d’une autre cause d’erreur. C’est folie que de se fatiguer à agir dans la vie, sans avoir un but où diriger toutes les tendances de notre âme et toutes nos idées sans exception.
Source: Wikisource · corpus/sources/fr/marcus-aurelius-pensees-couat-1904/livre-02.txt, l. 85
Les accidents du dehors te distraient de mille façons ; ménage-toi donc un peu de répit pour apprendre aussi quelque chose de bien et pour te soustraire enfin au tourbillon qui t’emporte. Voici bientôt le moment où il faut songer à l’autre carrière ; car c’est se moquer que de se fatiguer à agir dans la vie, sans avoir un but précis vers lequel on dirige tout son effort et même aussi son imagination.
Source: Wikisource · corpus/sources/fr/marcus-aurelius-pensees-barthelemy-1876/livre-02.txt, l. 27
How to cite
The canonical reference names the book and the chapter, so the passage can be found in any edition. The app composes it in three forms:
- Full form — full screen and large widgets
- — MARCUS AURELIUS · MEDITATIONS, II, 7
- Short form — small widget and Lock Screen
- — MEDITATIONS II, 7
- Minimal form — circular Lock Screen widget
- II·7
This passage and the 165 other Marcus Aurelius passages are free in Stoïque, with their reference, on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen.