Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §5.15.1

Renouncing Externals and What Truly Belongs to Man

Passage 116 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author argues that external things not essential to a human being as such are neither their end nor their good, and asserts that the more one deprives oneself of these things or endures their loss, the better a person they are.

§5.15.1Οὐδὲν τούτων ῥητέον ἀνθρώπου, ἃ ἀνθρώπῳ, καθὸ ἄνθρωπός ἐστιν, οὐκ ἐπιβάλλει.
\nNone of these things should be said to belong to a human being, which do not belong to him insofar as he is a human being.
οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπαιτήματα ἀνθρώπου οὐδὲ ἐπαγγέλλεται αὐτὰ ἡ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσις οὐδὲ τελειότητές εἰσι τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φύσεως.
They are not requirements of a human being, nor does the nature of a human being promise them, nor are they perfections of the nature of a human being.
οὐ τοίνυν οὐδὲ τὸ τέλος ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐστι τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ κείμενον οὐδέ γε τὸ συμπληρωτικὸν τοῦ τέλους, τὸ ἀγαθόν.
Therefore, neither is the end laid down for a human being in them, nor yet the good, which is the complement of the end.
ἐπεὶ εἴ τι τούτων ἦν ἐπιβάλλον τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, οὐκ ἂν τὸ ὑπερφρονεῖν αὐτῶν καὶ κατεξανίστασθαι ἐπιβάλλον ἦν οὐδὲ ἐπαινετὸς ἦν ὁ ἀπροσδεῆ τούτων ἑαυτὸν παρεχόμενος, οὐδ’ ἂν ὁ ἐλαττωτικὸς ἑαυτοῦ ἔν τινι τούτων ἀγαθὸς ἦν, εἴπερ ταῦτα ἀγαθὰ ἦν.
For if any of these things did belong to a human being, it would not be proper to look down on them and revolt against them, nor would a person who shows himself independent of them be praeworthy, nor would one who restrains himself in any of them be good, if indeed these things were goods.
νῦν δ᾽, ὅσῳπερ πλείω τις ἀφαιρῶν ἑαυτοῦ τούτων ἢ τοιούτων ἑτέρων ἢ καὶ ἀφαιρούμενός τι τούτων ἀνέχηται, τοσῷδε μᾶλλον ἀγαθός ἐστιν.
But as it is, the more a person deprives himself of these or other such things, or endures being deprived of some of them, the more he is a good person.

Notes

  1. 5.15.1ἀνθρώπου — A possessive genitive used predicatively ('belonging to a human being'), serving as a complement to the verbal adjective ῥητέον.
  2. 5.15.1ἦν ἐπιβάλλον — A periphrastic construction consisting of the imperfect ἦν and the present participle ἐπιβάλλον. In the conditional clause εἴ τι τούτων ἦν..., it expresses a present counterfactual condition, corresponding to οὐκ ἂν ... ἦν in the apodosis.
  3. 5.15.1ἀφαιρούμενός — A passive participle of the verb ἀφαιρέω ('being deprived of'), functioning as a supplementary participle with the following subjunctive verb ἀνέχηται ('endures [being deprived]'). It stands in contrast with the preceding active participle ἀφαιρῶν ('depriving/taking away [by oneself]').

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §5.15.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.15.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.