No longer be pulled by the strings

Commentary on Meditations 2.2

In Meditations 2.2 we see Marcus Aurelius discuss matters ranging from theoretical philosophy to practical personal life. Perhaps one of the best parts of the Meditations is that it’s an example of how both can be intertwined in a life.

2.2

Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh, breath, and the ruling part.

Throw away your books. No longer distract yourself; it is not allowed; but as if you were now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a structure of nerves, veins, and arteries.

See the breath also and what it is. Never the same, but every moment sent out and again brought back in.

The third then is the ruling part. Consider it like this. You are an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer pulled by the strings like a puppet to selfish movements, no longer dissatisfied with your present lot or shrinking from the future.

Meditations 2.2

My Notes

What is your nature? What kind of thing is a human being? Marcus Aurelius answers that question in the beginning of this section. Human beings are physical organisms (a little flesh), animated by life (breath), and possessing reason (the ruling part).