Humanitext Reader

Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §8.53.1

Folly of Seeking Praise from Those Displeased with Themselves

Passage 324 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Questions the foolishness of seeking praise or approval from people who constantly curse and displease themselves.

§8.53.1Ἐπαινεῖσθαι θέλεις ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπου τρὶς τῆς ὥρας ἑαυτῷ καταρωμένου;
Do you wish to be praised by a man who curses himself three times an hour?
ἀρέσκειν θέλεις ἀνθρώπῳ ὃς οὐκ ἀρέσκει ἑαυτῷ;
Do you wish to please a man who does not please himself?
ἀρέσκει ἑαυτῷ ὁ μετανοῶν ἐφ’ ἅπασι σχεδὸν οἷς πράσσει;
Does a man please himself who repents of almost everything that he does?

Notes

  1. §8.53.1τῆς ὥρας — A genitive of time within which. Combined with the numeral τρίς, it expresses frequency, meaning 'three times within an hour'.
  2. §8.53.1οἷς πράσσει — An example of relative attraction (attractio relative). The relative pronoun οἷς would regularly be in the accusative (ἅ) as the direct object of the transitive verb πράσσει, but is attracted into the dative case of its antecedent ἅπασι.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §8.53.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:8.53.1

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