Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.57.1

Loving Only What Happens and Is Spun by Fate

Passage 253 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author asserts that the most fitting attitude is to love only those events that occur to oneself and are spun as one's destiny.

§7.57.1Μόνως φιλεῖν τὸ ἑαυτῷ συμβαῖνον καὶ συγκλωθόμενον·
To love only what happens to you and is spun for you.
τί γὰρ ἁρμοδιώτερον;
For what could be more suitable?

Notes

  1. §7.57.1φιλεῖν — An independent infinitive used as an imperative, functioning as the main verb of the sentence to express an exhortation.
  2. §7.57.1συγκλωθόμενον — Present passive participle of the verb συγκλώθω ("to spin together"), modifying the dative ἑαυτῷ. It evokes the mythological imagery of the Fates spinning together the thread of an individual's destiny.
  3. §7.57.1ἁρμοδιώτερον — Comparative neuter nominative singular of the adjective ἁρμόδιος ("fitting", "suitable"). The copula ἐστι is omitted, forming a rhetorical question: "What could be more suitable (than loving what is allotted to oneself)?"

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.57.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.57.1

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.