Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §3.14.1

Ceasing to Wander and Urging to Help Oneself

Passage 48 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Marcus Aurelius advises to stop wandering, as there is no time left to read past memoirs or selections, and urges to discard empty hopes and help oneself while it is still possible.

§3.14.1Μηκέτι πλανῶ· οὔτε γὰρ τὰ ὑπομνημάτιά σου μέλλεις ἀναγινώσκειν οὔτε τὰς τῶν ἀρχαίων Ῥωμαίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων πράξεις καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἐκλογάς, ἃς εἰς τὸ γῆρας σαυτῷ ἀπετίθεσο.
Wander no further; for you are not going to read your own memoirs, nor the deeds of the ancient Romans and Greeks, nor the selections from writings which you were laying up for your old age.
σπεῦδε οὖν εἰς τέλος καὶ τὰς κενὰς ἐλπίδας ἀφεὶς σαυτῷ βοήθει, εἴ τί σοι μέλει σαυτοῦ, ἕως ἔξεστιν.
Hasten then to the end, and, casting away empty hopes, help yourself, if you care at all for yourself, while it is possible.

Notes

  1. §3.14.1πλανῶ — The second-person singular present middle/passive imperative of the verb πλανάω. It means 'to wander' or 'to go astray'.
  2. §3.14.1ἃς ... ἀπετίθεσο — The relative pronoun ἃς refers back to the antecedent ἐκλογάς (selections). The verb ἀπετίθεσο is the second-person singular imperfect middle of ἀποτίθημι (to lay up, store away).
  3. §3.14.1εἴ τί σοι μέλει σαυτοῦ — The impersonal verb μέλει (to be a care to) takes a dative of the person (σοι) and a genitive of the object of care (σαυτοῦ). The pronoun τί is used as an adverbial accusative, meaning 'at all' or 'in any way'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §3.14.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.14.1

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