Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §12.21.1

The Inevitable Vanishing of All Things and Succession

Passage 471 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author urges remembrance that oneself, current sights, and living people will soon vanish, as all things naturally change and perish to make way for successors.

§12.21.1Ὅτι μετ’ οὐ πολὺ οὐδεὶς οὐδαμοῦ ἔσῃ οὐδὲ τούτων τι ἃ νῦν βλέπεις οὐδὲ τούτων τις τῶν νῦν βιούντων· ἅπαντα γὰρ μεταβάλλειν καὶ τρέπεσθαι καὶ φθείρεσθαι πέφυκεν, ἵνα ἕτερα ἐφεξῆς γίνηται.
That before long you will be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of these things which you now see exist, nor any of these who are now living; for all things are naturally made to change, to turn, and to perish, so that other things may come into being in succession.

Notes

  1. §12.21.1Ὅτι — The conjunction ὅτι at the beginning of the sentence introduces a noun clause ('That...'), with an implied imperative verb of thinking or remembering (such as μέμνησο or ἐνθυμοῦ) omitted. While it could be interpreted causally as 'Because...', the former interpretation is preferred because it functions as an independent, self-contained reflection rather than a direct subordinate clause to the previous section.
  2. §12.21.1πέφυκεν — The intransitive perfect active of φύω, meaning 'to be by nature' or 'to be naturally constituted to do something', which governs the three following infinitives (μεταβάλλειν, τρέπεσθαι, and φθείρεσθαι).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §12.21.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.21.1

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