MED. 11.13Discipline of action
George Long · 1862EN · Long

DOGMASuppose any man shall despise me. Let him look to that himself. But I will look to this, that I be not discovered doing or saying anything deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me? Let him look to it. But I will be mild and benevolent towards every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion, unless indeed he only assumed it1. For the interior [parts] ought to be such, and a man ought to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining. For what TERMevil is it to thee, if thou art now doing what is agreeable to thy own TERMnature, and DOGMAart satisfied with that which at this moment is suitable to the nature of the universe, since thou art a human being placed at thy post in order that what is for the common advantage may be done in some way?

Original · ancient Greek

Καταφρονήσει μού τις; ὄψεται. ἐγὼ δὲ ὄψομαι ἵνα μή τι καταφρονήσεως ἄξιον πράσσων ἢ λέγων εὑρίσκωμαι. μισήσει; ὄψεται. ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ εὐμενὴς καὶ εὔνους παντὶ καὶ τούτῳ αὐτῷ ἕτοιμος τὸ παρορώμενον δεῖξαι, οὐκ ὀνειδιστικῶς οὐδὲ ὡς κατεπιδεικνύμενος ὅτι ἀνέχομαι, ἀλλὰ γνησίως καὶ χρηστῶς, οἷος ὁ Φωκίων ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο1. τὰ ἔσω γὰρ δεῖ τοιαῦτα εἶναι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι ἄνθρωπον πρὸς μηδὲν ἀγανακτικῶς διατιθέμενον μηδὲ δεινοπαθοῦντα. τί γάρ σοι κακόν, εἰ αὐτὸς νῦν ποιεῖς τὸ τῇ φύσει σου οἰκεῖον καὶ δέχῃ τὸ νῦν τῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει εὔκαιρον, ἄνθρωπος τεταμένος πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαι δι’ ὅτου δὴ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

The formula "his affair," twice over. DOGMAΚαταφρονήσει μού τις; DOGMAὄψεται — "will someone despise me? — let him see to it," that is, "his concern." And at once the same verb of himself: ἐγὼ δὲ ὄψομαι — "but I shall see to it that…". One word holds both halves of the dichotomy: another's contempt is his business, my not deserving it is mine. The second beat ("will he hate me? — his affair") repeats the move, and the repetition works as the rhythm of a notebook entry rather than as emphasis.

What exactly is taken on. Not "that I not be despised" but ἵνα μή τι καταφρονήσεως ἄξιον πράσσων ἢ λέγων εὑρίσκωμαι — "that I not be found doing or saying anything deserving of contempt." The care is shifted from reputation to the ground of reputation; the same move as at 10.32 (let whoever says such a thing of you be lying).

Three refusals in correcting another. The readiness to show the man who hates him τὸ παρορώμενον — "what he is overlooking" — is hedged with three conditions: not ὀνειδιστικῶς ("by way of reproach"), not κατεπιδεικνύμενος ὅτι ἀνέχομαι ("making a display of how much I endure"), but γνησίως καὶ χρηστῶς ("genuinely and soundly"). The middle prohibition is the subtlest: demonstrative endurance is the same revenge, only polite.

A proviso attached to the example. οἷος ὁ Φωκίων ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο — "like that Phocion, if only he was not putting it on." Marcus produces a model and at once declines to vouch for him. This is not doubt about Phocion so much as a refusal to lean on another's repute: the genuineness of the inward is visible to no observer — which is why he goes on to say that τὰ ἔσω must be such and ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι, "be seen by the gods." The one witness before whom the demonstration means anything.

Two words about posture. ἀγανακτικῶς διατιθέμενον ("disposed to resentment") and δεινοπαθοῦντα — literally "suffering as at something terrible," that is, making a tragedy of what happens. The second echoes ἀτραγῴδως at 11.3: the same target, the theatricality of the inward.

The close: a question instead of a consolation. DOGMAτί γάρ σοι κακόν — "for what evil is it to you?" — on two conditions: that you are doing τὸ τῇ TERMφύσει σου οἰκεῖον ("what is proper to your own nature") and accepting τὸτῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει εὔκαιρον ("what is in season for the nature of the Whole"). The word εὔκαιρον is worth noting: what happens is justified not by being good but by being timely. And the self-definition at the end: ἄνθρωπος τεταμένος πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαιτὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον — "a human being stretched taut toward the coming-about of the common benefit": not "striving" but drawn tight, like a bowstring, brought into tension toward one end. The governing discipline is action, the sustaining one assent.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished
Discipline of action

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

DOGMASuppose any man shall despise me. Let him look to that himself. But I will look to this, that I be not discovered doing or saying anything deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me? Let him look to it. But I will be mild and benevolent towards every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion, unless indeed he only assumed it1. For the interior [parts] ought to be such, and a man ought to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining. For what TERMevil is it to thee, if thou art now doing what is agreeable to thy own TERMnature, and DOGMAart satisfied with that which at this moment is suitable to the nature of the universe, since thou art a human being placed at thy post in order that what is for the common advantage may be done in some way?

Original · ancient Greek

Καταφρονήσει μού τις; ὄψεται. ἐγὼ δὲ ὄψομαι ἵνα μή τι καταφρονήσεως ἄξιον πράσσων ἢ λέγων εὑρίσκωμαι. μισήσει; ὄψεται. ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ εὐμενὴς καὶ εὔνους παντὶ καὶ τούτῳ αὐτῷ ἕτοιμος τὸ παρορώμενον δεῖξαι, οὐκ ὀνειδιστικῶς οὐδὲ ὡς κατεπιδεικνύμενος ὅτι ἀνέχομαι, ἀλλὰ γνησίως καὶ χρηστῶς, οἷος ὁ Φωκίων ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο1. τὰ ἔσω γὰρ δεῖ τοιαῦτα εἶναι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι ἄνθρωπον πρὸς μηδὲν ἀγανακτικῶς διατιθέμενον μηδὲ δεινοπαθοῦντα. τί γάρ σοι κακόν, εἰ αὐτὸς νῦν ποιεῖς τὸ τῇ φύσει σου οἰκεῖον καὶ δέχῃ τὸ νῦν τῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει εὔκαιρον, ἄνθρωπος τεταμένος πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαι δι’ ὅτου δὴ τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Marginalia1
Related4
Commentary

The formula "his affair," twice over. DOGMAΚαταφρονήσει μού τις; DOGMAὄψεται — "will someone despise me? — let him see to it," that is, "his concern." And at once the same verb of himself: ἐγὼ δὲ ὄψομαι — "but I shall see to it that…". One word holds both halves of the dichotomy: another's contempt is his business, my not deserving it is mine. The second beat ("will he hate me? — his affair") repeats the move, and the repetition works as the rhythm of a notebook entry rather than as emphasis.

What exactly is taken on. Not "that I not be despised" but ἵνα μή τι καταφρονήσεως ἄξιον πράσσων ἢ λέγων εὑρίσκωμαι — "that I not be found doing or saying anything deserving of contempt." The care is shifted from reputation to the ground of reputation; the same move as at 10.32 (let whoever says such a thing of you be lying).

Three refusals in correcting another. The readiness to show the man who hates him τὸ παρορώμενον — "what he is overlooking" — is hedged with three conditions: not ὀνειδιστικῶς ("by way of reproach"), not κατεπιδεικνύμενος ὅτι ἀνέχομαι ("making a display of how much I endure"), but γνησίως καὶ χρηστῶς ("genuinely and soundly"). The middle prohibition is the subtlest: demonstrative endurance is the same revenge, only polite.

A proviso attached to the example. οἷος ὁ Φωκίων ἐκεῖνος, εἴ γε μὴ προσεποιεῖτο — "like that Phocion, if only he was not putting it on." Marcus produces a model and at once declines to vouch for him. This is not doubt about Phocion so much as a refusal to lean on another's repute: the genuineness of the inward is visible to no observer — which is why he goes on to say that τὰ ἔσω must be such and ὑπὸ τῶν θεῶν βλέπεσθαι, "be seen by the gods." The one witness before whom the demonstration means anything.

Two words about posture. ἀγανακτικῶς διατιθέμενον ("disposed to resentment") and δεινοπαθοῦντα — literally "suffering as at something terrible," that is, making a tragedy of what happens. The second echoes ἀτραγῴδως at 11.3: the same target, the theatricality of the inward.

The close: a question instead of a consolation. DOGMAτί γάρ σοι κακόν — "for what evil is it to you?" — on two conditions: that you are doing τὸ τῇ TERMφύσει σου οἰκεῖον ("what is proper to your own nature") and accepting τὸτῇ τῶν ὅλων φύσει εὔκαιρον ("what is in season for the nature of the Whole"). The word εὔκαιρον is worth noting: what happens is justified not by being good but by being timely. And the self-definition at the end: ἄνθρωπος τεταμένος πρὸς τὸ γίνεσθαιτὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον — "a human being stretched taut toward the coming-about of the common benefit": not "striving" but drawn tight, like a bowstring, brought into tension toward one end. The governing discipline is action, the sustaining one assent.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished