Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.52.1

The Emptiness of Praise from Those Who Know Nothing

Passage 323 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author points out the ignorance of not knowing the nature of the universe or one's own purpose, showing the folly of seeking or avoiding praise from the masses who lack such fundamental self-awareness.

§8.52.1Ὁ μὲν μὴ εἰδὼς ὅ τι ἐστὶ κόσμος, οὐκ οἶδεν ὅπου ἐστίν.

He who does not know what the universe is, does not know where he is.

ὁ δὲ μὴ εἰδὼς πρὸς ὅ τι πέφυκεν, οὐκ οἶδεν ὅστις ἐστὶν οὐδὲ τί ἐστι κόσμος.

And he who does not know for what purpose he was naturally born, does not know who he is, nor what the universe is.

ὁ δὲ ἕν τι τούτων ἀπολιπὼν οὐδὲ πρὸς ὅ τι αὐτὸς πέφυκεν εἴποι.

But he who fails in any one of these things could not even say for what purpose he himself was naturally born.

τίς οὖν φαίνεταί σοι ὁ τὸν τῶν κροτούντων ἔπαινον φεύγων ἢ διώκων, οἳ οὔθ’ ὅπου εἰσὶν οὔτε οἵτινές εἰσι γινώσκουσιν;

What kind of person, then, does he appear to you, who avoids or pursues the praise of those who applaud, who know neither where they are nor who they are?

Notes

8.52.1εἴποι — The optative mood without the particle ἄν (potential optative). While classical Attic prose style usually requires ἄν, in the literary Greek of the Imperial period (Koine), the optative alone is frequently used to express potentiality ('could say').
8.52.1πρὸς ὅ τι πέφυκεν — An indirect question clause consisting of the preposition πρός ('towards', 'for the purpose of') and the perfect tense of φύω, namely πέφυκα ('to be by nature', 'to be naturally constitutioned'). It refers to the Stoic self-inquiry into what purpose or duty one is naturally born for.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.52.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.52.1

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