Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.16.1

Freedom in Changing One's Mind and Accepting Correction

Passage 287 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author explains that both changing one's mind and accepting correction from others are acts of freedom, as they are ultimately carried out based on one's own rational judgment.

§8.16.1Μέμνησο ὅτι καὶ τὸ μετατίθεσθαι καὶ ἕπεσθαι τῷ διορθοῦντι ὁμοίως ἐλεύθερόν ἐστι· σὴ γὰρ ἐνέργεια κατὰ τὴν σὴν ὁρμὴν καὶ κρίσιν καὶ δὴ καὶ κατὰ νοῦν τὸν σὸν περαινομένη.
Remember that both changing your mind and following the one who corrects you are equally free; for it is your own activity, accomplished according to your own impulse and judgment, and indeed according to your own mind.

Notes

  1. §8.16.1τὸ μετατίθεσθαι καὶ ἕπεσθαι — Two present infinitives are grouped under a single article τό and connected by καί... καί... This structures "changing one's mind" and "following correction" not as two distinct actions, but as integrated aspects of a single process of self-correction.
  2. §8.16.1σὴ γὰρ ἐνέργεια... περαινομένη — An independent clause after the colon, forming a nominal sentence with the copula ἐστί omitted (for σὴ γὰρ ἐνέργειά ἐστι...). The present participle περαινομένη is a feminine nominative singular modifying the noun ἐνέργεια, conveying a passive meaning: 'an activity being accomplished'.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.16.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.16.1

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