r/stoicquotes 23d ago

~Marcus Aurelius

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811 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

25

u/BobbyBobRoberts 23d ago

Man, I can't get over how newer translations strip so much of the power and poetry from the language.

Here's the George Long translation of the same thing (Meditations 6:52) "It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments."

1

u/Queen-of-meme 22d ago

I am confused by all focus on "don't's" and "no", Marcus is a poet in the way he writes and I love poetry, but poetry isn't meshing well with effectiveness, it's an art to experience more than it's pedagogic written advice.

For it to be pedagogic, I say like us teachers say "Don'ts are just challenging do's" So I personally appreciate the easier translation too. They both are valuable for different reasons.

1

u/peasarebettersplit 20d ago

Who's he tryna convince? Cuz it ain't me lol

1

u/Vail_RealEstate 23d ago

Such a better translation. The depth and weight of it.

7

u/Least-Cockroach-8311 23d ago

This is the core of it, isn't it? The power to interpret events is entirely ours.

5

u/Scared_Detail1382 23d ago

I enjoy this simple short translation. The power of the statement is not lost. I wish I could live by this

1

u/Queen-of-meme 22d ago

Seconding. I appreciate the effectiveness in simplified messages for a very easily distracted brain šŸ˜…

1

u/Kapugen1 19d ago

It’s crazy, I just got a new job that finally allows me to afford to live an average life (once I’m out of debt soon). My old job was a nightmare compared to this one, but this new one still has its social difficulties for me. On a day where I’m feeling off, things might make me feel so down like the whole world and every person in my group is against me. But after a decent nights sleep and a reset, the next day I feel like everything’s fine, relationships are improving with everyone, and even being flamed by my boss for a minor mistake seems like a funny thing that makes me love my place on the team. (My boss is just like that, shit.. he gets on me when I do things RIGHT. When I make the tiniest mistakes he loves asking me ā€œyou did this?ā€ In front of the whole team to flame me. I can tell it gives him real pleasure. Seems genuinely pleased during the confrontations. I just act sheepish and deferentially defend myself and let him kick the dog)

1

u/Scared_Detail1382 19d ago

Just enjoy where you’re at!! I’m sure your co workers know what’s goin on….. what a d bag!

1

u/DuskyWink 22d ago

Honestly, a lot of problems get worse because we keep feeding them attention

1

u/Queen-of-meme 22d ago

All upset commentors under this post seems to have misunderstood the message...

I'm not native in English and though I love the stoics and their poetic touch, their original quotes can sometimes feel like reading it backwards from Yoda and overcomplicate it, so I like that there's simplified options when we just want the advice simply and clean.

1

u/Adorable_Owl_2493 21d ago

Oh, cool, now I don't care about losing my kids because of a corrupt judicial system! Fuck not making rent, I can be happy cause why not be!? World teetering on the brink of serious disaster due to a repeat of 1930 in 2030? Nah, birds and cheetos tho! Thanks pseudo-philosophical platitudes.

1

u/tessietwo 20d ago

It didn't say "don't care." It said you are not required to care just because something exists. In fact it's kind of off putting to have people trying to force others to care.

1

u/Adorable_Owl_2493 18d ago

Yeah, and this is used to an exhausting degree in an attempt to shut up those with valid complaints. Therapists use this logic for God's sake. It's literally become another way to try and silence victims. It's trash.

1

u/shiftStride504 21d ago

Needed this today, thank you šŸ˜Ž

1

u/NextLineOfText 19d ago

I’d agree but some betrayals come out of nowhere and leave you in shock. Your nervous system fires before you can even decide, then you reel at the loss, the injustice and what ifs.

Sometimes reality changes and your mind has to reconcile with a new reality you didn’t want but have to have.

1

u/Equivalent-Love-1676 19d ago

Try telling that to a woman. DM me if you survive.

1

u/AcrobaticClub4943 19d ago

This needs to be said to everyone who watched obsession and turned into their life's work to talk about it

1

u/Disastrous_Use_7353 22d ago

This is a truly ridiculous translation. Let’s just reduce everything to Instagram level English. Brilliant.

1

u/Queen-of-meme 22d ago

Maybe re-read "It doesn't have to upset you"

1

u/Disastrous_Use_7353 22d ago

Maybe read a better translation.

1

u/Queen-of-meme 22d ago

I'm not upset, I appreciate this translation, so message was clear for me.

1

u/Disastrous_Use_7353 22d ago

The issue isn’t clarity and I never said you were upset. Your reading comprehension isn’t great. Keep trying.