Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §10.35.1

Healthy Senses and Accepting All Events

Passage 409 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author argues that just as healthy sensory organs and digestive systems are ready to receive all their respective objects, so a healthy mind must be prepared to accept whatever happens without wishing for specific, self-serving outcomes.

§10.35.1Τὸν ὑγιαίνοντα ὀφθαλμὸν πάντα ὁρᾶν δεῖ τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ μὴ λέγειν· τὰ χλωρὰ θέλω· τοῦτο γὰρ ὀφθαλμιῶντός ἐστι.
The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, "I wish for green things"; for this is the mark of a diseased eye.
καὶ τὴν ὑγιαίνουσαν ἀκοὴν καὶ ὄσφρησιν εἰς πάντα δεῖ τὰ ἀκουστὰ καὶ ὀσφραντὰ ἑτοίμην εἶναι, καὶ τὸν ὑγιαίνοντα στόμαχον πρὸς πάντα τὰ τρόφιμα ὁμοίως ἔχειν ὡς μύλην πρὸς πάντα ὅσα ἀλέσουσα κατεσκεύασται.
And the healthy hearing and smell ought to be ready for all things audible and odorous, and the healthy stomach ought to be in the same relation to all nourishing food as a mill is to all things which it has been made to grind.
καὶ τοίνυν τὴν ὑγιαίνουσαν διάνοιαν πρὸς πάντα δεῖ τὰ συμβαίνοντα ἑτοίμην εἶναι, ἡ δὲ λέγουσα· τὰ τεκνία σῳζέσθω, καί· πάντες ὅ τι ἂν πράξω ἐπαινείτωσαν, ὀφθαλμός ἐστι τὰ χλωρὰ ζητῶν ἢ ὀδόντες τὰ ἁπαλά.
And accordingly, the healthy mind ought to be ready for all things which happen; but that mind which says, "Let my children be saved," and, "Let all men praise whatever I do," is an eye seeking green things, or teeth seeking soft things.

Notes

  1. §10.35.1ὀφθαλμιῶντός ἐστι — The genitive of the participle ὀφθαλμιῶντος ('one who suffers from an eye disease') combined with the verb ἐστί functions as a predicate genitive denoting a characteristic or property ('it is characteristic of one who has diseased eyes').
  2. §10.35.1ἀλέσουσα — The future participle feminine nominative of ἀλέω ('to grind'), agreeing with the feminine noun μύλη ('mill'). The future participle is used here to express purpose ('in order to grind').
  3. §10.35.1ἡ δὲ λέγουσα — An articular participle construction where the feminine noun διάνοια ('mind') is omitted but understood from the preceding sentence (τὴν ὑγιαίνουσαν διάνοιαν), acting as a contrastive subject ('but the mind which says...').

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §10.35.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:10.35.1

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