Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Meditations, Book I
1 passage of this book in Stoïque, with its reference.
Book I is a list of debts, not of precepts. Sixteen of its seventeen chapters open with a name and what Marcus Aurelius says he took from that person: good morals and the government of his temper from his grandfather Verus, modesty from the memory of his father, piety and simplicity from his mother, good teachers at home from his great-grandfather. Then come the philosophers and the friends: Diognetus, Rusticus, who lent him the discourses of Epictetus out of his own collection, Apollonius (Meditations, I, 8), Sextus, the two Alexanders, Fronto, Catulus, his brother Severus, Maximus.
Chapter 16 is the longest, a portrait of his adoptive father Antoninus drawn trait by trait, down to the dress that came from Lorium and the habit of examining all things severally, as if he had abundance of time. Chapter 17 turns to the gods and closes the account. In Long’s 1862 text the book ends with the line ‘Among the Quadi at the Granua’.
Passages of this book in the app
From Apollonius: freedom of will and unwavering steadiness of purpose; to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except reason; and to be always the same in sharp pain, in the loss of a child, and in long illness.
— MARCUS AURELIUS · MEDITATIONS, I, 8
after Long, 1862
Three chapters of this book, in Long’s 1862 edition
The app gives fewer than four passages of this book, so three of its chapters are printed here as the edition has them, word for word.
From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man who practises much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a display; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine writing; and not to walk about in the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of the kind; and to write my letters with simplicity, like the letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa to my mother; and with respect to those who have offended me by words, or done me wrong, to be easily disposed to be pacified and reconciled, as soon as they have shown a readiness to be reconciled; and to read carefully, and not to be satisfied with a superficial understanding of a book; nor hastily to give my assent to those who talk overmuch; and I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection.
From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to nature; and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without consideration:+ he had the power of readily accommodating himself to all, so that intercourse with him was more agreeable than any flattery; and at the same time he was most highly venerated by those who associated with him: and he had the faculty both of discovery and ordering, in an intelligent and methodical way, the principles necessary for life; and he never showed anger or any other passion, but was entirely free from passion, and also most affectionate; and he could express approbation without noisy display, and he possessed much knowledge without ostentation.
From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that he did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement and surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious. He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive, and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of a man who could not be diverted from right, rather than of a man who had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.+
The book in numbers
- Chapters in Long’s 1862 edition
- 17
- Passages of this book in the app
- 1
- Passages of Marcus Aurelius in the app
- 166
- Editions cited on this page
- George Long, 1862
Chapters of this book in the app
Each reference names the book and the chapter, the same way the app prints it under the passage.
The passage of Book I and the 165 other passages by Marcus Aurelius are free in Stoïque, each with its reference, on the Home Screen and the Lock Screen.