Quote checked against the text
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” — attributed to Marcus Aurelius
In substance, yes; in this wording, no. The idea is at Meditations, XII, 22; George Long’s 1862 edition is quoted below, and the sentence as it circulates is not this translator’s.
In substance only. Neither sentence is in the Meditations as George Long translated them in 1862: both fragments return nothing in the twelve books, and the only place they appear is the list of quotations that circulate online under the name of Marcus Aurelius.
What the text says is shorter and harder. Book XII, chapter 22 opens with “Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power”, and Book II, chapter 15 keeps the same idea in five words, “Remember that all is opinion”, which Long traces to the cynic Monimus. The opinion in question is the judgment we add to things, not the opinions we hear from other people; nothing in either chapter sets opinion against fact, or perspective against truth.
The circulating version keeps the word “opinion” and turns it into a statement about other people’s speech. Both chapters are in the app with their reference: Meditations, XII, 22 and Meditations, II, 15.
What we searched
Each fragment is searched, normalized, in every file of the editions below. The block is the search and its result, replayed at each build.
The wording was searched in Long 1862 (12 books, 487 chapters) and, in French, Couat 1904 and Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire 1876 (12 books each).
$ node tools/seo/grep-quote.mjs --lang en --author aurele "opinion, not a fact" "perspective, not the truth" "everything is opinion"
George Long, 1862 — Meditations · 12 books, 487 chapters (1 file)
"opinion, not a fact" 0 hits
"perspective, not the truth" 0 hits
"everything is opinion" 3 hits
l. 6919 how no man is hindered by another; that everything is opinion.
l. 6994 22. Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power.
l. 7048 the Deity; forgotten this, that everything is opinion; and lastly thou
$ node tools/seo/grep-quote.mjs --lang fr --author aurele "une opinion, pas un fait" "une perspective, pas la vérité" "Tout est dans le jugement"
Auguste Couat, 1904 — Pensées · 12 books, 487 chapters (IV, 19–20 and VII, 47–48 merged by the translator) (12 files)
"une opinion, pas un fait" 0 hits
"une perspective, pas la vérité" 0 hits
"Tout est dans le jugement" 1 hit
livre-12.txt l. 96 Tout est dans le jugement, et le jugement dépend de toi. Supprime donc, quand tu le voudras, ton jugement, et pareil au matelot qui a doublé un cap, tu trouveras le calme, l’immobilité et un port sans tempête.
Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire, 1876 — Pensées · 12 books, 487 chapters — second French edition, shown beside Couat (12 files)
"une opinion, pas un fait" 0 hits
"une perspective, pas la vérité" 0 hits
"Tout est dans le jugement" 0 hitsThis sentence appears once in the list of circulating quotes we collected on 2026-08-09.
What the text says
Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. Take away then, when thou choosest, thy opinion, and like a mariner who has doubled the promontory, thou wilt find calm, everything stable, and a waveless bay.
In the app
The passage of this chapter as Stoïque gives it, with its reference.
Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in your power. Take away your opinion when you choose, and like a sailor who has rounded the headland you will find calm, all things steady, a waveless bay.
— MARCUS AURELIUS · MEDITATIONS, XII, 22
After G. Long (1862), modernized
How to cite
The idea, not this wording, is at:
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, XII, 22 (trans. George Long, 1862)
Other sentences checked
All sentences attributed to Marcus AureliusAll quote checks
Every passage in Stoïque carries its reference. The 166 passages of Marcus Aurelius are free in the app, each with its book and chapter.