Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §12.32.1

Human Insignificance in the Cosmos and Following Nature

Passage 482 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author reflects on how minutely small human existence is in comparison to the infinite eternity, substance, soul, and earth, concluding that one should care for nothing except acting in accordance with one's own nature and accepting what the common nature brings.

§12.32.1Πόστον μέρος τοῦ ἀπείρου καὶ ἀχανοῦς αἰῶνος ἀπομεμέρισται ἑκάστῳ·
How tiny a part of the infinite and boundless eternity is allotted to each person!
τάχιστα γὰρ ἐναφανίζεται τῷ ἀιδίῳ·
For it swiftly vanishes into the everlasting.
πόστον δὲ τῆς ὅλης οὐσίας·
And how tiny a part of the whole of substance!
πόστον δὲ τῆς ὅλης ψυχῆς·
And how tiny a part of the universal soul!
ἐν πόστῳ δὲ βωλαρίῳ τῆς ὅλης γῆς ἕρπεις.
And on how tiny a clod of the whole earth do you creep!
πάντα ταῦτα ἐνθυμούμενος μηδὲν μέγα φαντάζου ἢ τό, ὡς μὲν ἡ σὴ φύσις ἄγει ποιεῖν, πάσχειν δὲ ὡς ἡ κοινὴ φύσις φέρει.
Keeping all these things in mind, imagine nothing to be great, except this: to act as your own nature leads, and to endure what the common nature brings.

Notes

  1. §12.32.1Πόστον — The interrogative adjective `πόστος` ("how large?", "of what fraction?") is used here with an exclamatory nuance ("how tiny/insignificant a fraction") to emphasize the extreme smallness of human existence in comparison to the vast whole.
  2. §12.32.1ἐναφανίζεται τῷ ἀιδίῳ — The compound verb `ἐναφανίζομαι` ("to vanish in/into") contains the preposition `ἐν`. Although it often takes `ἐν` with the dative to express where something disappears, here it directly takes the simple dative `τῷ ἀιδίῳ`.
  3. §12.32.1μηδὲν μέγα φαντάζου ἢ τό — In the construction `μηδὲν ... ἢ τό...` ("imagine nothing as great except the thing that..."), the neuter article `τό` substantivizes and introduces the following two contrasted infinitive clauses: `ποιεῖν` (to act) and `πάσχειν` (to endure).

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §12.32.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:12.32.1

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