Marcus Aurelius on Change
Ok … our recent culture seems to be teetering on the edge of something bad – changing … One can do many things with that perception. I have chosen the stoic route. Here’s a Wikipedia definition / explanation that is as simple as one gets: “The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve eudaimonia: a well-lived life”
We can go on for a very long time on “Eudaimonia“; I spent 3 months writing about that one word 40 years ago (just how Aristotle used it) – it’s complicated … but that’s another story.
Circling back to the world is changing – at least our modern western cultural world seems to be shifting in a direction that I do not find welcoming. What is the stoic response to such conditions? I think Marcus Aurelius had a tougher time than I did, so how did he look at it?
Translating classical texts is a nightmare for those of us who do NOT read & understand the original. Here are all the ways, Marcus’ approach to change was translated per Wikipedia.
- The universe is (constant) change, life is (mere) presumption. (Analogous translation)
- The universe is transformation: life is opinion. (Translation by George Long)
- The world is a moving shift; life is a succession of views. (Translation Gerald H. Rendall)
- The universe is change, life is opinion. (Translation A.S.L. Farquharson)
- This world is mere change, and this life, opinion. (Translation Boulton / David Widger)
- The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it. (Translation M.H. Morgan)
- ὁ κόσμος ἀλλοίωσις, ὁ βίος ὑπόληψις.
For me, the last English translation hits the mark. “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.” Expect change – it is reality, but how we respond to it both in behavior and thought makes the difference – a well-lived life, or a poorly lived one. The external is what it is … all we can control is our response to it.
Our mental state = our choices. If you are unhappy or distraught, choose again ….
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