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Read/Book V/5.23
MED. 5.23Discipline of desire
George Long · 1862EN · Long

EXERCISEOften think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both the things which are and the things which are produced. For MOTIFsubstance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are TERMin constant change, and the causes work in infinite varieties; and there is hardly anything which stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, EXERCISEthis boundless abyss of the past and of the future in which all things disappear. How then is he not a fool who is puffed up with such things or plagued about them and makes himself miserable? for they vex him only for a time, and a short time.

Original · ancient Greek

Πολλάκις ἐνθυμοῦ τὸ τάχος τῆς παραφορᾶς καὶ ὑπεξαγωγῆς τῶν ὄντων καὶ γινομένων. ἤ τε γὰρ οὐσία οἷον ποταμὸς ἐν διηνεκεῖ ῥύσει καὶ αἱ ἐνέργειαι ἐν συνεχέσι μεταβολαῖς καὶ τὰ αἴτια ἐν μυρίαις τροπαῖς καὶ σχεδὸν οὐδὲν ἑστὼς καὶ τὸ πάρεγγυς· τὸ δὲ ἄπειρον τοῦ τε παρῳχηκότος καὶ μέλλοντος ἀχανές, ᾧ πάντα ἐναφανίζεται. πῶς οὖν οὐ μωρὸς ὁ ἐν τούτοις φυσώμενος ἢ σπώμενος ἢ σχετλιάζων ὡς ἔν τινι χρόνῳ καὶ ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἐνοχλήσαντι;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Place in the book. The exercise of the contemplation of nature (φυσιολογία) in its "flux" facet: the classic image of the river-substance and the abyss of time. The discipline of desire (non-attachment to the transient).

The river of substance. "MOTIFSubstance (οὐσία) is like a river in a continual flow (ῥύσει)": TERMthe activities are in ceaseless changes (μεταβολαῖς), the causes "in myriad turns" (τροπαῖς), and hardly anything stands still (οὐδὲν ἑστώς). The Heraclitean flux (Heraclitus, DK B12) applied to all that is: every thing is only a temporary configuration in the stream.

The abyss of time. Close at hand lies "EXERCISEthe boundless abyss (ἀχανές) of past and future, in which all things disappear." A temporal "view from above": between the two abysses of non-being, every object of pride is a point, swept off in an instant. Only the "now" is real, and that but for a moment.

The therapy. Hence the conclusion: since all is carried off, and carried off quickly — "is he not a fool" (μωρός) who, amid this, is puffed up (φυσώμενος — pride), torn (σπώμενος — anxiety), or aggrieved (σχετλιάζων — complaint), "as though it were for long"? The irony of the close: it vexes him only "for a time, and a short time." Contemplating the flux dissolves attachment and gives rise to the DOGMAacceptance of the flow.

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is desire (φυσιολογία, non-attachment); the secondary is assent (dispelling the false valuation of "important / long-lasting"). Parallels: Med. 4.43 (04-43, the river of becoming), 2.17, 6.15 (in the stream nothing is stable), 05-13 (the endless transformation of the parts of the self).

DisciplineDiscipline of desire
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished
Read·Book V
Discipline of desire

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

EXERCISEOften think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear, both the things which are and the things which are produced. For MOTIFsubstance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are TERMin constant change, and the causes work in infinite varieties; and there is hardly anything which stands still. And consider this which is near to thee, EXERCISEthis boundless abyss of the past and of the future in which all things disappear. How then is he not a fool who is puffed up with such things or plagued about them and makes himself miserable? for they vex him only for a time, and a short time.

Original · ancient Greek

Πολλάκις ἐνθυμοῦ τὸ τάχος τῆς παραφορᾶς καὶ ὑπεξαγωγῆς τῶν ὄντων καὶ γινομένων. ἤ τε γὰρ οὐσία οἷον ποταμὸς ἐν διηνεκεῖ ῥύσει καὶ αἱ ἐνέργειαι ἐν συνεχέσι μεταβολαῖς καὶ τὰ αἴτια ἐν μυρίαις τροπαῖς καὶ σχεδὸν οὐδὲν ἑστὼς καὶ τὸ πάρεγγυς· τὸ δὲ ἄπειρον τοῦ τε παρῳχηκότος καὶ μέλλοντος ἀχανές, ᾧ πάντα ἐναφανίζεται. πῶς οὖν οὐ μωρὸς ὁ ἐν τούτοις φυσώμενος ἢ σπώμενος ἢ σχετλιάζων ὡς ἔν τινι χρόνῳ καὶ ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἐνοχλήσαντι;

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related5
TERMμεταβολήchange, transformationDOGMAAmor fati — accepting what happens as a rational orderEXERCISEContemplation of nature — φυσική as a spiritual exerciseEXERCISEThe view from aboveMOTIFThe river of time — the stream of becoming
Commentary

Place in the book. The exercise of the contemplation of nature (φυσιολογία) in its "flux" facet: the classic image of the river-substance and the abyss of time. The discipline of desire (non-attachment to the transient).

The river of substance. "MOTIFSubstance (οὐσία) is like a river in a continual flow (ῥύσει)": TERMthe activities are in ceaseless changes (μεταβολαῖς), the causes "in myriad turns" (τροπαῖς), and hardly anything stands still (οὐδὲν ἑστώς). The Heraclitean flux (Heraclitus, DK B12) applied to all that is: every thing is only a temporary configuration in the stream.

The abyss of time. Close at hand lies "EXERCISEthe boundless abyss (ἀχανές) of past and future, in which all things disappear." A temporal "view from above": between the two abysses of non-being, every object of pride is a point, swept off in an instant. Only the "now" is real, and that but for a moment.

The therapy. Hence the conclusion: since all is carried off, and carried off quickly — "is he not a fool" (μωρός) who, amid this, is puffed up (φυσώμενος — pride), torn (σπώμενος — anxiety), or aggrieved (σχετλιάζων — complaint), "as though it were for long"? The irony of the close: it vexes him only "for a time, and a short time." Contemplating the flux dissolves attachment and gives rise to the DOGMAacceptance of the flow.

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is desire (φυσιολογία, non-attachment); the secondary is assent (dispelling the false valuation of "important / long-lasting"). Parallels: Med. 4.43 (04-43, the river of becoming), 2.17, 6.15 (in the stream nothing is stable), 05-13 (the endless transformation of the parts of the self).

DisciplineDiscipline of desire
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished