Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §4.42.1

How Change Itself Is Neither Evil nor Good

Passage 92 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author explains that change itself is neither good nor bad for things undergoing change or coming into existence from it.

§4.42.1Οὐδέν ἐστι κακὸν τοῖς ἐν μεταβολῇ γινομένοις, ὡς οὐδὲ ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ἐκ μεταβολῆς ὑφισταμένοις.
There is nothing evil for those things which are in the process of change, just as there is nothing good for those which come into existence out of change.

Notes

  1. §4.42.1τοῖς ἐν μεταβολῇ γινομένοις — A substantivized present participle in the dative case, expressing the dative of reference or interest ("for those..."). It is contrasted with the parallel phrase τοῖς ἐκ μεταβολῆς ὑφισταμένοις later in the sentence; the former refers to things in the process of changing, and the latter to things existing as a result of change, thus encompassing the entire cycle of generation and destruction.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §4.42.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.42.1

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