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MED. 5.33Discipline of desire
George Long · 1862EN · Long

EXERCISESoon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling, and like little dogs biting one another, and little children quarrelling, laughing, and then straightway weeping. But fidelity and modesty and justice and truth are fled

Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth.

What then is there which still detains thee here? If the objects of sense are easily changed and never stand still, and the organs of perception are dull and easily receive false impressions; and TERMthe poor soul itself is an exhalation from blood. But to have good repute amidst such a world as this is an empty thing. Why then dost thou not wait in tranquility for thy end, whether it is extinction or removal to another state? And until that time comes, what is sufficient? Why, what else than to venerate the gods and bless them, and DOGMAto do good to men, and to practise tolerance and self-restraint; but as to everything which is beyond the limits of the poor flesh and breath, DOGMAto remember that this is neither thine nor in thy power.

Original · ancient Greek

Ὅσον οὐδέπω σποδὸς ἢ σκελετὸς καὶ ἤτοι ὄνομα ἢ οὐδὲ ὄνομα, τὸ δὲ ὄνομα ψόφος καὶ ἀπήχημα. τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ βίῳ πολυτίμητα κενὰ καὶ σαπρὰ καὶ μικρὰ καὶ κυνίδια διαδακνόμενα καὶ παιδία φιλόνεικα, γελῶντα, εἶτα εὐθὺς κλαίοντα· πίστις δὲ καὶ αἰδὼς καὶ δίκη καὶ ἀλήθεια

πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης.

τί οὖν ἔτι τὸ ἐνταῦθα κατέχον, εἴ γε τὰ μὲν αἰσθητὰ εὐμετάβλητα καὶ οὐχ ἑστῶτα, τὰ δὲ αἰσθητήρια ἀμυδρὰ καὶ εὐπαρατύπωτα, αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ψυχάριον ἀναθυμίασις ἀφ’ αἵματος, τὸ δὲ εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τοιούτοις κενόν; τί οὖν; περιμένεις ἵλεως τὴν εἴτε σβέσιν εἴτε μετάστασιν· ἕως δὲ ἐκείνης ὁ καιρὸς ἐφίσταται, τί ἀρκεῖ; τί δὲ ἄλλο ἢ θεοὺς μὲν σέβειν καὶ εὐφημεῖν, ἀνθρώπους δὲ εὖ ποιεῖν καὶ ἀνέχεσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι· ὅσα δὲ ἐντὸς ὅρων τοῦ κρεᾳδίου καὶ τοῦ πνευματίου, ταῦτα μεμνῆσθαι μήτε σὰ ὄντα μήτε ἐπὶ σοί.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Commentary

Place in the book. A developed contemptus mundi: the transience of the body, the emptiness of fame, the unreliability of the senses — and a practical conclusion: revere the gods, do good, hold the external as not one's own. The discipline of desire, with a secondary of action.

Soon — ash. EXERCISE"Soon ash or skeleton; a name — or not even a name; and a name is noise and echo". What is prized in life is "empty, rotten, petty" (κενά, σαπρά, μικρά); images of petty scuffling: puppies biting one another, children who laugh and at once weep.

The line of Hesiod. "Faith, shame, justice, truth (πίστις, αἰδώς, δίκη, ἀλήθεια)" have fled "to Olympus from the wide-wayed earth" — a verse of Hesiod (Works and Days 197, where in Hesiod it is Aidos and Nemesis who leave the earth; Marcus substitutes the four virtues). A lament with irony: the virtues seem to "have left the earth" — yet they are precisely the one thing that remains with us.

The unreliability of the senses and the soul. The sensible (αἰσθητά) is ever-changing and unstable, the sense-organs (αἰσθητήρια) dim and easily stamped with the false, and TERMthe "poor soul" (ψυχάριον) itself is "an exhalation from blood" (ἀναθυμίασις ἀφ' αἵματος) (a Heraclitean physiology). So good repute among "such" people is empty too. What, then, holds one here?

Serenity and duty. To wait "with a serene soul" (ἵλεως) for "extinction or transposition" (σβέσις ἢ μετάστασις — the Stoic disjunction about death: either dispersal or passage); and until then — "to revere and bless the gods, DOGMAto do good to people, bear with them, and hold off," and to remember that all beyond "this scrap of flesh and breath" (κρεᾴδιον, πνευμάτιον) is DOGMA"neither yours nor up to you".

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is desire (contempt of the perishable, serenity before death); the secondary is action (duty toward people). Parallels: 03-03 (the disjunction afterlife/insensibility; "mind and daimon against earth and gore"); 02-17 (the soul as vapour, life as war and a sojourn abroad); 04-48 (the catalogue of the dead).

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

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

EXERCISESoon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling, and like little dogs biting one another, and little children quarrelling, laughing, and then straightway weeping. But fidelity and modesty and justice and truth are fled

Up to Olympus from the wide-spread earth.

What then is there which still detains thee here? If the objects of sense are easily changed and never stand still, and the organs of perception are dull and easily receive false impressions; and TERMthe poor soul itself is an exhalation from blood. But to have good repute amidst such a world as this is an empty thing. Why then dost thou not wait in tranquility for thy end, whether it is extinction or removal to another state? And until that time comes, what is sufficient? Why, what else than to venerate the gods and bless them, and DOGMAto do good to men, and to practise tolerance and self-restraint; but as to everything which is beyond the limits of the poor flesh and breath, DOGMAto remember that this is neither thine nor in thy power.

Original · ancient Greek

Ὅσον οὐδέπω σποδὸς ἢ σκελετὸς καὶ ἤτοι ὄνομα ἢ οὐδὲ ὄνομα, τὸ δὲ ὄνομα ψόφος καὶ ἀπήχημα. τὰ δὲ ἐν τῷ βίῳ πολυτίμητα κενὰ καὶ σαπρὰ καὶ μικρὰ καὶ κυνίδια διαδακνόμενα καὶ παιδία φιλόνεικα, γελῶντα, εἶτα εὐθὺς κλαίοντα· πίστις δὲ καὶ αἰδὼς καὶ δίκη καὶ ἀλήθεια

πρὸς Ὄλυμπον ἀπὸ χθονὸς εὐρυοδείης.

τί οὖν ἔτι τὸ ἐνταῦθα κατέχον, εἴ γε τὰ μὲν αἰσθητὰ εὐμετάβλητα καὶ οὐχ ἑστῶτα, τὰ δὲ αἰσθητήρια ἀμυδρὰ καὶ εὐπαρατύπωτα, αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ψυχάριον ἀναθυμίασις ἀφ’ αἵματος, τὸ δὲ εὐδοκιμεῖν παρὰ τοιούτοις κενόν; τί οὖν; περιμένεις ἵλεως τὴν εἴτε σβέσιν εἴτε μετάστασιν· ἕως δὲ ἐκείνης ὁ καιρὸς ἐφίσταται, τί ἀρκεῖ; τί δὲ ἄλλο ἢ θεοὺς μὲν σέβειν καὶ εὐφημεῖν, ἀνθρώπους δὲ εὖ ποιεῖν καὶ ἀνέχεσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέχεσθαι· ὅσα δὲ ἐντὸς ὅρων τοῦ κρεᾳδίου καὶ τοῦ πνευματίου, ταῦτα μεμνῆσθαι μήτε σὰ ὄντα μήτε ἐπὶ σοί.

Leopold · Teubner 1908
Related4
TERMψυχήsoulDOGMAThe dichotomy of control — what is up to us and what is notDOGMAOikeiōsis — appropriation expanding from the self to the rational communityEXERCISEMeditatio mortis — living under the sign of "as one already dying"
Commentary

Place in the book. A developed contemptus mundi: the transience of the body, the emptiness of fame, the unreliability of the senses — and a practical conclusion: revere the gods, do good, hold the external as not one's own. The discipline of desire, with a secondary of action.

Soon — ash. EXERCISE"Soon ash or skeleton; a name — or not even a name; and a name is noise and echo". What is prized in life is "empty, rotten, petty" (κενά, σαπρά, μικρά); images of petty scuffling: puppies biting one another, children who laugh and at once weep.

The line of Hesiod. "Faith, shame, justice, truth (πίστις, αἰδώς, δίκη, ἀλήθεια)" have fled "to Olympus from the wide-wayed earth" — a verse of Hesiod (Works and Days 197, where in Hesiod it is Aidos and Nemesis who leave the earth; Marcus substitutes the four virtues). A lament with irony: the virtues seem to "have left the earth" — yet they are precisely the one thing that remains with us.

The unreliability of the senses and the soul. The sensible (αἰσθητά) is ever-changing and unstable, the sense-organs (αἰσθητήρια) dim and easily stamped with the false, and TERMthe "poor soul" (ψυχάριον) itself is "an exhalation from blood" (ἀναθυμίασις ἀφ' αἵματος) (a Heraclitean physiology). So good repute among "such" people is empty too. What, then, holds one here?

Serenity and duty. To wait "with a serene soul" (ἵλεως) for "extinction or transposition" (σβέσις ἢ μετάστασις — the Stoic disjunction about death: either dispersal or passage); and until then — "to revere and bless the gods, DOGMAto do good to people, bear with them, and hold off," and to remember that all beyond "this scrap of flesh and breath" (κρεᾴδιον, πνευμάτιον) is DOGMA"neither yours nor up to you".

Discipline and parallels. The principal discipline is desire (contempt of the perishable, serenity before death); the secondary is action (duty toward people). Parallels: 03-03 (the disjunction afterlife/insensibility; "mind and daimon against earth and gore"); 02-17 (the soul as vapour, life as war and a sojourn abroad); 04-48 (the catalogue of the dead).

DisciplineDiscipline of desire
Record added2026-06-26
Statuspublished