Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.13.1

Responding to Contempt with Enduring Benevolence

Passage 425 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author urges maintaining an inner attitude of benevolence and readiness to correct others without resentment, regardless of their contempt or hatred, while acting in accordance with nature and the common good.

§11.13.1Καταφρονήσει μού τις;
Will someone despise me?
ὄψεται.
That is his look-out.
ἐγὼ δὲ ὄψομαι ἵνα μή τι καταφρονήσεως ἄξιον πράσσων ἣ λέγων εὑρίσκωμαι.
But I will see to it that I am not found doing or saying anything worthy of contempt.
μισήσει;
Will he hate me?
ὄψεται.
That is his look-out.
ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ εὐμενὴς καὶ εὔνους παντὶ καὶ τούτῳ αὐτῷ ἕτοιμος τὸ παρορώμενον δεῖξαι, οὐκ ὀνειδιστικῶς οὐδὲ ὡς κατεπιδεικνύμενος ὅτι ἀνέχομαι, ἀλλὰ γνησίως καὶ χρηστῶς, οἷος ὁ Φωκίων ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο.
But I will be well-disposed and benevolent to everyone, and ready to show this very person his error, not reproachfully, nor as making a display of my forbearance, but genuinely and kindly, like that famous Phocion, if indeed he was not pretending.
τὰ ἔσω γὰρ δεῖ τοιαῦτα εἶναι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι ἄνθρωπον πρὸς μηδὲν ἀγανακτικῶς διατιθέμενον μηδὲ δεινοπαθοῦντα.
For the inner life must be such, and a man must be seen by the gods as one who is neither resentful nor complaining about anything.
τί γάρ σοι κακόν, εἰ αὐτὸς νῦν ποιεῖς τὸ τῇ φύσει σου οἰκεῖον καὶ δέχῃ τὸ νῦν τῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει εὔκαιρον, ἄνθρωπος τεταμένος πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαι δι’ ὅτου δὴ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον;
For what evil is there to you, if you yourself now do what is proper to your own nature, and accept what is now opportune for the nature of the universe, as a man directed toward the accomplishment, by whatever means, of the common good?

Notes

  1. §11.13.1ὄψεται — The future form of ὁράω. The third-person singular ὄψεται is used idiomatically to mean "he will see to it" or "it is his own look-out/responsibility." In contrast, the first-person ὄψομαι is used with the ἵνα clause to mean "I will see to it that... / I will take care that..."
  2. §11.13.1εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο — A conditional clause with εἴ γε and the imperfect indicative προσεποιεῖτο (from προσποιέομαι, "to pretend"), expressing a past counterfactual condition (or a qualification with an ironical nuance). It attaches a reservation to the famous Athenian general Phocion's virtue: "unless indeed he was pretending."
  3. §11.13.1ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι ἄνθρωπον — An accusative-with-infinitive construction governed by the impersonal verb δεῖ. ἄνθρωπον serves as the subject accusative and βλέπεσθαι as the passive infinitive, meaning "it is necessary for a man to be seen by the gods (as being...)."
  4. §11.13.1τεταμένος — Perfect passive participle of τείνω (to stretch, strain) in the masculine nominative singular, modifying the appositive ἄνθρωπος. Meaning "stretched" or "strained," here it signifies being intensely focused on or directed towards a goal (πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαι...).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.13.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.13.1

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