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You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you. It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to
by proc0 6y ago
You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you.
It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.
The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.
-Marcus Aurelius
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- marcusverus 6y agoI'm a big fan of Meditations. Having read both the Gregory Hays translation and the George Long, I have a hard time mapping these very different translations as referring onto the same text. My first impression was, "clearly the George Long translation is a real translation of the text, whereas the Gregory Hays is a contemporary attempt to restate the thesis of each lassage without strict adherence to the original." But without the ability to read the original, this is pure speculation/ignorance on my part. Does anyone have any insight into which translation is the most faithful to the original?
- proc0 6y agoYeah, it would be nice to learn Latin and read the originals.
- wenc 6y agoInteresting tidbit: Marcus Aurelius, despite being a Roman emperor, wrote Meditations in Koine Greek. I once had a conversation with a Koine Greek scholar (also a Lyft driver, he was driving me to the airport -- turns out the job market for Ph.D.s in Koine Greek was/is not great), and he claims that most native English speakers should be able to achieve reading proficiency in Koine Greek in a matter of 6 months. It's apparently a very regular language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations
- proc0 6y agoInteresting indeed, thanks for sharing.
- perl4ever 6y agoThere are things which might be under my control or should be under my control, about which I am in doubt. These are painful to consider; if they aren't truly my failures, then other people might consider them such. Focusing on things which are obviously not under my control seems like an instinctive displacement mechanism that's fairly generally applicable. It's futile from the perspective of actually changing anything, but serves a purpose. So I try not to tell other people to fix themselves, because it may be an illusion that they try to escape from through "silly" behavior; I'd question logically/philosophically whether anything can operate on itself.
- dualogy 6y ago> Just try to escape your own. I'd tell Marcus: > It’s silly to try to escape And there's a kicker lurking in that direction: trying to "escape escaping" won't be any smoother ride, just one meagre step closer to infinity.
- proc0 6y agoIt means you can't control others. People have faults and it's on them.