Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.14.1

Freedom from Harm by Refusing to Judge External Events as Evil

Passage 210 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author asserts that whatever happens from without, one's mind remains unharmed as long as one does not judge the event to be an evil, a judgment which is always within one's own power.

§7.14.1Ὃ θέλει, ἔξωθεν προσπιπτέτω τοῖς παθεῖν ἐκ τῆς προσπτώσεως ταύτης δυναμένοις.
Whatever wills, let it fall from without upon those things which are capable of being affected by this impact.
ἐκεῖνα γάρ, ἐὰν θελήσῃ, μέμψεται τὰ παθόντα, ἐγὼ δέ, ἐὰν μὴ ὑπολάβω ὅτι κακὸν τὸ συμβεβηκός, οὔπω βέβλαμμαι·
For those things which are affected, if they will, may complain; but I, if I do not assume that what has happened is an evil, am not yet harmed.
ἔξεστι δέ μοι μὴ ὑπολαβεῖν.
And it is in my power not so to assume.

Notes

  1. §7.14.1Ὃ θέλει — The combination of the relative pronoun ὅ and the verb θέλει (wills) functions as a free relative clause expressing a conditional or concessive meaning, literally 'whatever wills' or 'whatever wants to happen.' The implied subject is external events or fortune.
  2. §7.14.1ἐκεῖνα ... μέμψεται τὰ παθόντα — The subject is the neuter plural phrase ἐκεῖνα τὰ παθόντα (those things which are affected, referring here to the body or non-rational parts), but the verb μέμψεται (will complain) is in the third-person singular (future middle). This follows the grammatical rule in Greek where a neuter plural subject takes a singular verb (schema Atticum).
  3. §7.14.1ὑπολάβω — The first-person singular aorist subjunctive of the verb ὑπολαμβάνω (to assume, judge, or conceive). This reflects the Stoic concept of 'judgment' or 'assent' (hypolepsis); it implies that one is not harmed by external events themselves, but only when one subjectively judges or assumes those events to be 'evil.'

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.14.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.14.1

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