Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.11.1

Suspending Judgments on Things to Attain Calm

Passage 423 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author explains that external things do not come to us, but rather we go to them; by quieting our judgments about them, they will become harmless, and we will cease to pursue or avoid them.

§11.11.1Οὐκ ἔρχεται ἐπὶ σὲ τὰ πράγματα ὧν αἱ διώξεις καὶ φυγαὶ θορυβοῦσί σε, ἀλλὰ τρόπον τινὰ αὐτὸς ἐπ̓ ἐκεῖνα ἔρχῃ·

Things themselves do not come to you, the pursuits and avoidances of which disturb you, but in a certain way you yourself go to them.

τὸ γοῦν κρῖμα τὸ περὶ αὐτῶν ἡσυχαζέτω κἀκεῖνα μενεῖ ἀτρεμοῦντα καὶ οὔτε διώκων οὔτε φεύγων ὀφθήσῃ.

Let your judgment about them, at least, remain quiet, and those things too will remain motionless, and you will be seen neither pursuing nor avoiding them.

Notes

11.11.1ὧν αἱ διώξεις καὶ φυγαὶ — The relative pronoun ὧn refers to the antecedent tà prágmata (things) and functions as an objective genitive governed by the nouns diṓxeis (pursuits) and phygaí (avoidances).
11.11.1τρόπον τινὰ — An adverbial accusative of the noun trópos, meaning 'in a certain way' or 'in a manner.'
11.11.1ὀφθήσῃ — The second-person singular future passive of horáō ('you will be seen'), construed with the predicative participles diṓkōn (pursuing) and pheúgōn (avoiding) in the nominative case, meaning 'you will not be seen [or found to be] either pursuing or avoiding.'

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.11.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.11.1

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