What Marcus Aurelius Actually Said About Action
All 7 Marcus Aurelius passages on action, in full — what each one claims, what holds them together, and who argues the other way.
Marcus Aurelius returns to action seven times in thinkr's library — more often than to almost anything else. Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher. His Meditations — private notes in Greek, never meant for publication — are the most beloved Stoic text in the modern world.
What follows is every one of those passages, in full, with what each is actually claiming. The language is of its period, but the question underneath is not: what is action for, and what does it ask of you?
Every Marcus Aurelius passage on action
“Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived—not in the least like the rich. (Hays translation)”
“He was a man who looked at what ought to be done, not to the reputation which is got by a man's acts.”
“You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that's all even the gods can ask of you. (Hays translation)”
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. (Hays translation)”
“The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do.”
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won't feel harmed. Don't feel harmed—and you haven't been. (Hays translation)”
“Remember this— that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.”
What holds these together
Read in sequence rather than one at a time, the passages stop being separate aphorisms. Marcus Aurelius is not offering seven opinions about action; the lines are facets of one position, and the repetition is the argument. The shortest of them — “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. (Hays translation)” — is the version you can carry, and the longer ones are what it unpacks into.
Marcus Aurelius applied to a real decision
Quotation is the easy part. The harder test is what the position actually does when it meets a situation where every option costs something. thinkr puts two such cases to Marcus Aurelius.
You notice a loophole that benefits you and hurts no one visibly.
Argued as stoic discipline: You are practicing inner rule when no audience is present. The danger is pride in purity.
You were wronged, and anger is giving you energy.
Argued as stoic command: You are refusing to outsource judgment to a hot emotion. The danger is confusing calm with moral seriousness.
Work through these yourself
- You notice a loophole that benefits you and hurts no one visibly. — argued from stoic discipline and several competing positions
- You were wronged, and anger is giving you energy. — argued from stoic command and several competing positions
Who disagrees
Plato, Seneca, Mahatma Gandhi and Lao Tzu all address action too, and they do not converge. Reading Marcus Aurelius alone gives you a coherent position; reading Marcus Aurelius against Plato shows you what the position is actually choosing against.