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Read/Book XI/11.9
MED. 11.9Discipline of action
George Long · 1862EN · Long

As those who try to stand in thy way when thou art proceeding according to right TERMreason will not be able to turn thee aside from thy proper action, DOGMAso neither let them drive thee from thy benevolent feelings toward them, but EXERCISEbe on thy guard equally in both matters, not only in the matter of steady judgment and action, but also in the matter of gentleness to those who try to hinder or otherwise trouble thee. For this also is a weakness, to be vexed at them, as well as to be diverted from thy course of action and to give way through fear; for both are equally deserters from their post,—the man who does it through fear, and the man who is TERMalienated from him who is by nature a kinsman and a friend.

Original · ancient Greek

Οἱ ἐνιστάμενοι προιόντι σοι κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑγιοῦς πράξεως ἀποτρέψαι σε οὐ δυνήσονται, οὕτως μηδὲ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὐμενείας ἐκκρουέτωσαν, ἀλλὰ φύλασσε σεαυτὸν ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων ὁμοίως, μὴ μόνον ἐπὶ τῆς εὐσταθοῦς κρίσεως καὶ πράξεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς κωλύειν ἐπιχειροῦντας ἢ ἄλλως δυσχεραίνοντας πρᾳότητος. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀσθενές, τὸ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ τὸ ἀποστῆναι τῆς πράξεως καὶ ἐνδοῦναι καταπλαγέντα· ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἐπίσης λειποτάκται, ὁ μὲν ὑποτρέσας, ὁ δὲ ἀλλοτριωθεὶς πρὸς τὸν φύσει συγγενῆ καὶ φίλον.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Two things that must not be knocked out of you, not one. The passage is built on a parallel: as the obstructors will not turn you from sound action (ὑγιὴς πρᾶξις), so DOGMAlet them not knock out your DOGMAgoodwillDOGMA toward those obstructors either. The verb ἐκκρούω is "to knock out by a blow"; Marcus treats another's pressure as a shove that can dislodge you from two different positions. The usual Stoic formula defends one — the rightness of the act; here both positions are put under guard, and the second is named as the equal of the first.

A symmetrical watch. EXERCISEφύλασσε σεαυτὸν ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων EXERCISEὁμοίως — "guard yourself on both alike": not only on εὐσταθὴς κρίσις καὶ πρᾶξις ("steady judgement and action") but on πρᾳότης — mildness toward those who try to hinder "or are otherwise put out." Πρᾳότης here is not softness of temperament but the working virtue toward the one who obstructs.

Anger is named a weakness, not a sin. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀσθενές, τὸ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτοῖς — "for this too is feeble, to be harsh with them." A diagnosis, not a condemnation: irritation is set in one row with fright. Both are ἀσθένεια; only the direction differs.

The military metaphor levels the two failures. ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἐπίσης λειποτάκται — "both alike are deserters" (λειποτάκτης, one who has left the ranks; in Roman law the gravest military offence). The one ὑποτρέσας — "having flinched"; the other TERMἀλλοτριωθεὶς πρὸς τὸν φύσει TERMσυγγενῆ καὶ φίλον — "having become a stranger to one who is by nature kin and friend." The move is severe: to be embittered at an obstructor is equated with running from the field. And the ground is not magnanimity but a fact of kinship: the one who hinders remains συγγενής all the same.

A note on the ranks. The word λειποτάκτης stands next to 11.8 by no accident: there the one who separates cuts himself off from the community, here he takes himself off his post. Two figures of falling away in succession, the botanical and the military. The governing discipline is action, the sustaining one assent.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished
Read·Book XI
Discipline of action

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

As those who try to stand in thy way when thou art proceeding according to right TERMreason will not be able to turn thee aside from thy proper action, DOGMAso neither let them drive thee from thy benevolent feelings toward them, but EXERCISEbe on thy guard equally in both matters, not only in the matter of steady judgment and action, but also in the matter of gentleness to those who try to hinder or otherwise trouble thee. For this also is a weakness, to be vexed at them, as well as to be diverted from thy course of action and to give way through fear; for both are equally deserters from their post,—the man who does it through fear, and the man who is TERMalienated from him who is by nature a kinsman and a friend.

Original · ancient Greek

Οἱ ἐνιστάμενοι προιόντι σοι κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑγιοῦς πράξεως ἀποτρέψαι σε οὐ δυνήσονται, οὕτως μηδὲ τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εὐμενείας ἐκκρουέτωσαν, ἀλλὰ φύλασσε σεαυτὸν ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων ὁμοίως, μὴ μόνον ἐπὶ τῆς εὐσταθοῦς κρίσεως καὶ πράξεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς κωλύειν ἐπιχειροῦντας ἢ ἄλλως δυσχεραίνοντας πρᾳότητος. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀσθενές, τὸ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ τὸ ἀποστῆναι τῆς πράξεως καὶ ἐνδοῦναι καταπλαγέντα· ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἐπίσης λειποτάκται, ὁ μὲν ὑποτρέσας, ὁ δὲ ἀλλοτριωθεὶς πρὸς τὸν φύσει συγγενῆ καὶ φίλον.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related4
TERMλόγοςreason, word, the cosmic LogosTERMσυγγενήςkindred, akinDOGMAOikeiōsis — appropriation expanding from the self to the rational communityEXERCISEProsochē — attention to the present action
Commentary

Two things that must not be knocked out of you, not one. The passage is built on a parallel: as the obstructors will not turn you from sound action (ὑγιὴς πρᾶξις), so DOGMAlet them not knock out your DOGMAgoodwillDOGMA toward those obstructors either. The verb ἐκκρούω is "to knock out by a blow"; Marcus treats another's pressure as a shove that can dislodge you from two different positions. The usual Stoic formula defends one — the rightness of the act; here both positions are put under guard, and the second is named as the equal of the first.

A symmetrical watch. EXERCISEφύλασσε σεαυτὸν ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέρων EXERCISEὁμοίως — "guard yourself on both alike": not only on εὐσταθὴς κρίσις καὶ πρᾶξις ("steady judgement and action") but on πρᾳότης — mildness toward those who try to hinder "or are otherwise put out." Πρᾳότης here is not softness of temperament but the working virtue toward the one who obstructs.

Anger is named a weakness, not a sin. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἀσθενές, τὸ χαλεπαίνειν αὐτοῖς — "for this too is feeble, to be harsh with them." A diagnosis, not a condemnation: irritation is set in one row with fright. Both are ἀσθένεια; only the direction differs.

The military metaphor levels the two failures. ἀμφότεροι γὰρ ἐπίσης λειποτάκται — "both alike are deserters" (λειποτάκτης, one who has left the ranks; in Roman law the gravest military offence). The one ὑποτρέσας — "having flinched"; the other TERMἀλλοτριωθεὶς πρὸς τὸν φύσει TERMσυγγενῆ καὶ φίλον — "having become a stranger to one who is by nature kin and friend." The move is severe: to be embittered at an obstructor is equated with running from the field. And the ground is not magnanimity but a fact of kinship: the one who hinders remains συγγενής all the same.

A note on the ranks. The word λειποτάκτης stands next to 11.8 by no accident: there the one who separates cuts himself off from the community, here he takes himself off his post. Two figures of falling away in succession, the botanical and the military. The governing discipline is action, the sustaining one assent.

DisciplineDiscipline of action
Record added2026-07-16
Statuspublished