Meditations VII.46 — academic edition

MMeditations — the digital archive

MED. 7.46Discipline of desire

George Long · 1862EN · Long

But, my good friend, reflect whether that which is noble and good is not something different from saving and being saved; for as to a man living such or such a time, at least one who is really a man, consider if this is not a thing to be dismissed from the thoughts: and there must be no love of life: but as to these matters a man must intrust them to the Deity and believe what the women say, that no man can escape his TERMdestiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.

Original · ancient Greek

ʽἈλλ’, ὦ μακάριε, ὅρα μὴ ἄλλο τι τὸ γενναῖον καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ᾖ τοῦ σῴζειν τε καὶ σῴζεσθαι· μὴ γὰρ τοῦτο μέν, τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ χρόνον, τόν γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄνδρα ἐατέον ἐστὶ καὶ οὐ φιλοψυχητέον, ἀλλ’ ἐπιτρέψαντα περὶ τούτων τῷ θεῷ καὶ πιστεύσαντα ταῖς γυναιξίν, ὅτι τὴν εἱμαρμένην οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς ἐκφύγοι, τὸ ἐπὶ τούτῳ σκεπτέον τίνα ἂν τρόπον τοῦτον ὃν μέλλει χρόνον βιῶναι ὡς ἄριστα βιῴη.ʼ

Leopold · Teubner 1908

Commentary

The Gorgias against clinging to life. A verbatim excerpt from the Gorgias (512d–e) — to Callicles, who measures worth by the power "to save and be saved." Socrates cuts away the very frame: the noble and the good (τὸ γενναῖον καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν) are other than survival. A true man must "let go" the question of how long he lives (τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ χρόνον ἐατέον) and not be φιλόψυχος — a "life-lover" in the bad sense, fretting over duration. A direct continuation of the Plato series 7.44–7.45: there, "not life/death but whether justly"; here, "not how long to live but how."

Fate and the women's sayings. A double entrusting: "commit this to god" (ἐπιτρέψαντα τῷ θεῷ) and "believe the women" (πιστεύσαντα ταῖς γυναιξίν) — Socratic irony: even the commonplace women's saying that "TERMfate (εἱμαρμένην) no one escapes" carries a truth the philosopher may simply accept. For the Stoic εἱμαρμένη is not the fatalism of impotence but the ground of DOGMAthe love of fate: since the span is not in my power (the dichotomy), the one remaining question is the quality of the time allotted (ὡς ἄριστα βιῴη — "to live it as well as possible"). Cf. 06-49 (contentment with the allotted span) and 12.14 (whether fate or providence — complaint is senseless). The strict term is here in the text: εἱμαρμένη. The governing discipline is desire (no love of mere living); the sustaining one, action (to live it best).

Discipline of desire

George Long · 1862· EN · Long

But, my good friend, reflect whether that which is noble and good is not something different from saving and being saved; for as to a man living such or such a time, at least one who is really a man, consider if this is not a thing to be dismissed from the thoughts: and there must be no love of life: but as to these matters a man must intrust them to the Deity and believe what the women say, that no man can escape his TERMdestiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.

Original · ancient Greek

ʽἈλλ’, ὦ μακάριε, ὅρα μὴ ἄλλο τι τὸ γενναῖον καὶ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ᾖ τοῦ σῴζειν τε καὶ σῴζεσθαι· μὴ γὰρ τοῦτο μέν, τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ χρόνον, τόν γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ἄνδρα ἐατέον ἐστὶ καὶ οὐ φιλοψυχητέον, ἀλλ’ ἐπιτρέψαντα περὶ τούτων τῷ θεῷ καὶ πιστεύσαντα ταῖς γυναιξίν, ὅτι τὴν εἱμαρμένην οὐδ’ ἂν εἷς ἐκφύγοι, τὸ ἐπὶ τούτῳ σκεπτέον τίνα ἂν τρόπον τοῦτον ὃν μέλλει χρόνον βιῶναι ὡς ἄριστα βιῴη.ʼ

Leopold · Teubner 1908

Related3

TERMεἱμαρμένη (глагол εἵμαρται; συγκαθείμαρτο, «со-суждено», у Марка)fate, the destined DOGMAAmor fati — accepting what happens as a rational order PERSONPlatofounder of the Academy, pupil of Socrates; for Marcus — a source of quotations on the soul's scale, the post, and death

Commentary

The Gorgias against clinging to life. A verbatim excerpt from the Gorgias (512d–e) — to Callicles, who measures worth by the power "to save and be saved." Socrates cuts away the very frame: the noble and the good (τὸ γενναῖον καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν) are other than survival. A true man must "let go" the question of how long he lives (τὸ ζῆν ὁποσονδὴ χρόνον ἐατέον) and not be φιλόψυχος — a "life-lover" in the bad sense, fretting over duration. A direct continuation of the Plato series 7.44–7.45: there, "not life/death but whether justly"; here, "not how long to live but how."

Fate and the women's sayings. A double entrusting: "commit this to god" (ἐπιτρέψαντα τῷ θεῷ) and "believe the women" (πιστεύσαντα ταῖς γυναιξίν) — Socratic irony: even the commonplace women's saying that "TERMfate (εἱμαρμένην) no one escapes" carries a truth the philosopher may simply accept. For the Stoic εἱμαρμένη is not the fatalism of impotence but the ground of DOGMAthe love of fate: since the span is not in my power (the dichotomy), the one remaining question is the quality of the time allotted (ὡς ἄριστα βιῴη — "to live it as well as possible"). Cf. 06-49 (contentment with the allotted span) and 12.14 (whether fate or providence — complaint is senseless). The strict term is here in the text: εἱμαρμένη. The governing discipline is desire (no love of mere living); the sustaining one, action (to live it best).

DisciplineDiscipline of desire

Record added2026-07-16

Statuspublished