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Read/Book IV/4.46
MED. 4.46Discipline of assent
George Long · 1862EN · Long

Always remember the saying of PERSONHeraclitus, that the TERMdeath of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. EXERCISEAnd think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the TERMreason DOGMAwhich governs the universe; and the things which daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak; and that we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught.

Original · ancient Greek

Ἀεὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλειτείου μεμνῆσθαι, ὅτι γῆς θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι καὶ ὕδατος θάνατος ἀέρα γενέσθαι καὶ ἀέρος πῦρ καὶ ἔμπαλιν. μεμνῆσθαι δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἐπιλανθανομένου, ᾗ ἡ ὁδὸς ἄγει· καὶ ὅτι, ᾧ μάλιστα διηνεκῶς ὁμιλοῦσι, λόγῳ τῷ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντι, τούτῳ διαφέρονται· καὶ οἷς καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐγκυροῦσι, ταῦτα αὐτοῖς ξένα φαίνεται· καὶ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν, καὶ γὰρ καὶ τότε δοκοῦμεν ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν· καὶ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ὡς παῖδας τοκεώνων, τουτέστι κατὰ ψιλόν, καθότι παρειλήφαμεν.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. A collage of sayings of PERSONHeraclitus under the common frame "always remember" (EXERCISEkeeping ready to hand) — Marcus's most developed treatment of Heraclitus. It joins his physics (the cycle of the elements) and his ethics of wakefulness (to live by the Logos, not as if asleep).

The transformation of the elements. γῆς θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι… — the death of earth is the birth of water, of water air, of air fire, and back again: the cycle of the TERMelements (earth → water → air → fire), which is itself the very existence of the cosmos. "Death" at any level is only a transformation into the next (cf. 02-03; 04-42).

The Logos that governs the Whole. TERMλόγος, DOGMAτῷ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντι — the reason that governs all and is common to all; yet people are "at variance" (διαφέρονται) with it, though they are in communion with it most continuously of all, and what is familiar seems foreign to them. This is the Heraclitean κοινὸς λόγος (B1) — the direct ancestor of the Stoic cosmic Logos (DOGMAunity through a single Logos).

Not as sleepers, not as children. οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας — not to live and speak as if asleep (mechanically, without awareness); οὐ δεῖ ὡς παῖδας τοκεώνων — not to repeat blindly what is inherited "just as we received it" (κατὰ ψιλόν). A call to a waking, conscious life by the Logos — against the somnambulism of habit and unexamined tradition.

Source of the fragments. This very passage is the source of several fragments of Heraclitus: Diels drew from it B71 (he who forgets the way), B72 (the variance with the Logos; the familiar seeming foreign), B73 (not as sleepers), B74 (not as children of one's parents).

The disciplines. The principal one is assent: to keep the teachings ready and to live consciously, awake, not somnambulistically (an examined judgement, not blind habit). The secondary is desire: the cycle of the elements — to be reconciled to transformation as nature's norm.

The exercise. EXERCISEProcheiron: "ἀεὶ μεμνῆσθαι" — to keep these Heraclitean theses ready to hand, prepared for use (the Meditations itself is in part such a notebook).

Parallels. The cycle of the elements — Heraclitus B76; 02-03; 04-42 (cf. TERMstoicheia). The common Logos, estranged from, and the life "as if asleep" — Heraclitus B71–B73; Med. 6.42 (cf. TERMlogos; DOGMAunity-of-cosmos). Not to live by blind habit — Heraclitus B74 (cf. EXERCISEprokheiron).

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished
Read·Book IV
Discipline of assent

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

Always remember the saying of PERSONHeraclitus, that the TERMdeath of earth is to become water, and the death of water is to become air, and the death of air is to become fire, and reversely. EXERCISEAnd think too of him who forgets whither the way leads, and that men quarrel with that with which they are most constantly in communion, the TERMreason DOGMAwhich governs the universe; and the things which daily meet with seem to them strange: and consider that we ought not to act and speak as if we were asleep, for even in sleep we seem to act and speak; and that we ought not, like children who learn from their parents, simply to act and speak as we have been taught.

Original · ancient Greek

Ἀεὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλειτείου μεμνῆσθαι, ὅτι γῆς θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι καὶ ὕδατος θάνατος ἀέρα γενέσθαι καὶ ἀέρος πῦρ καὶ ἔμπαλιν. μεμνῆσθαι δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἐπιλανθανομένου, ᾗ ἡ ὁδὸς ἄγει· καὶ ὅτι, ᾧ μάλιστα διηνεκῶς ὁμιλοῦσι, λόγῳ τῷ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντι, τούτῳ διαφέρονται· καὶ οἷς καθ’ ἡμέραν ἐγκυροῦσι, ταῦτα αὐτοῖς ξένα φαίνεται· καὶ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν, καὶ γὰρ καὶ τότε δοκοῦμεν ποιεῖν καὶ λέγειν· καὶ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ὡς παῖδας τοκεώνων, τουτέστι κατὰ ψιλόν, καθότι παρειλήφαμεν.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related5
TERMλόγοςreason, word, the cosmic LogosTERMστοιχεῖαelements, first principlesDOGMAThe unity of the cosmos — all things bound by a single LogosEXERCISEProcheiron — keeping the teachings ready to handPERSONHeraclitusIonian natural philosopher, "the Obscure" (ὁ Σκοτεινός); the most important Presocratic source of Stoic physics
Commentary

Genre and place in the book. A collage of sayings of PERSONHeraclitus under the common frame "always remember" (EXERCISEkeeping ready to hand) — Marcus's most developed treatment of Heraclitus. It joins his physics (the cycle of the elements) and his ethics of wakefulness (to live by the Logos, not as if asleep).

The transformation of the elements. γῆς θάνατος ὕδωρ γενέσθαι… — the death of earth is the birth of water, of water air, of air fire, and back again: the cycle of the TERMelements (earth → water → air → fire), which is itself the very existence of the cosmos. "Death" at any level is only a transformation into the next (cf. 02-03; 04-42).

The Logos that governs the Whole. TERMλόγος, DOGMAτῷ τὰ ὅλα διοικοῦντι — the reason that governs all and is common to all; yet people are "at variance" (διαφέρονται) with it, though they are in communion with it most continuously of all, and what is familiar seems foreign to them. This is the Heraclitean κοινὸς λόγος (B1) — the direct ancestor of the Stoic cosmic Logos (DOGMAunity through a single Logos).

Not as sleepers, not as children. οὐ δεῖ ὥσπερ καθεύδοντας — not to live and speak as if asleep (mechanically, without awareness); οὐ δεῖ ὡς παῖδας τοκεώνων — not to repeat blindly what is inherited "just as we received it" (κατὰ ψιλόν). A call to a waking, conscious life by the Logos — against the somnambulism of habit and unexamined tradition.

Source of the fragments. This very passage is the source of several fragments of Heraclitus: Diels drew from it B71 (he who forgets the way), B72 (the variance with the Logos; the familiar seeming foreign), B73 (not as sleepers), B74 (not as children of one's parents).

The disciplines. The principal one is assent: to keep the teachings ready and to live consciously, awake, not somnambulistically (an examined judgement, not blind habit). The secondary is desire: the cycle of the elements — to be reconciled to transformation as nature's norm.

The exercise. EXERCISEProcheiron: "ἀεὶ μεμνῆσθαι" — to keep these Heraclitean theses ready to hand, prepared for use (the Meditations itself is in part such a notebook).

Parallels. The cycle of the elements — Heraclitus B76; 02-03; 04-42 (cf. TERMstoicheia). The common Logos, estranged from, and the life "as if asleep" — Heraclitus B71–B73; Med. 6.42 (cf. TERMlogos; DOGMAunity-of-cosmos). Not to live by blind habit — Heraclitus B74 (cf. EXERCISEprokheiron).

DisciplineDiscipline of assent
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished