Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §4.31.1

Loving One's Craft and Trusting the Gods

Passage 81 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author advises to love the humble craft one has learned and find rest in it, and to pass the remaining life by committing everything to the gods, being neither master nor slave to anyone.

§4.31.1Τὸ τεχνίον ὃ ἔμαθες φίλει, τούτῳ προσαναπαύου· τὸ δὲ ὑπόλοιπον τοῦ βίου διέξελθε ὡς θεοῖς μὲν ἐπιτετροφὼς τὰ σεαυτοῦ πάντα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀνθρώπων δὲ μηδενὸς μήτε τύραννον μήτε δοῦλον σεαυτὸν καθιστάς.
Love the little craft which you have learned, and find your rest in it; and pass through the remainder of your life as one who has entrusted all his affairs from his whole soul to the gods, making yourself neither a tyrant nor a slave to any man.

Notes

  1. 4.31.1τεχνίον — A diminutive of the noun τέχνη (art, craft, trade), meaning a "little craft" or "humble occupation," used to express one's station or skills with philosophical humility.
  2. 4.31.1ὡς θεοῖς μὲν ἐπιτετροφὼς ... καθιστάς — The conjunction ὡς, indicating a subjective attitude or manner, governs both the perfect participle ἐπιτετροφὼς and the present participle καθιστάς, defining the state of mind with which the subject of the main verb (διέξελθε) should live.
  3. 4.31.1ἀνθρώπων δὲ μηδενὸς — The genitive of the indefinite negative pronoun μηδείς depends on both subsequent nouns, τύραννον (tyrant/master) and δοῦλον (slave), functioning as a genitive of relation ("to/of no man").

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §4.31.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.31.1

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