Meditations
Text / translation : George Long (1800–1879) · Edition : 19th-century translation
Historical texts may use dated spelling or vocabulary. The original edition is preserved; this is not a new translation.
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Book XII (continued)
34. This reflection is most adapted to move us to contempt of death, that even those who think pleasure to be a good and pain an evil still have despised it.
35. The man to whom that only is good which comes in due season, and to whom it is the same thing whether he has done more or fewer acts conformable to right reason, and to whom it makes no difference whether he contemplates the world for a longer or a shorter time--for this man neither is death a terrible thing (iii. 7; vi. 23; x. 20; xii. 23).
36. Man, thou hast been a citizen in this great state [the world];[A] what difference does it make to thee whether for five years [or three]? for that which is conformable to the laws is just for all. Where is the hardship then, if no tyrant nor yet an unjust judge sends thee away from the state, but nature, who brought thee into it? the same as if a praetor who has employed an actor dismisses him from the stage.[B]--"But I have not finished the five acts, but only three of them."--Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts are the whole drama; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition, and now of its dissolution: but thou art the cause of neither. Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied.
[A] ii. 16; iii. 11; iv. 29.
[B] iii. 8; xi. 1.
Rights and provenance
The complete twelve books in George Long’s translation, including its notes. The ancient original and the translation by Long, who died in 1879, are in the public domain in France. The biographical essay and indexes from the source volume are not part of this reading text. The original Project Gutenberg file, credits and licence are preserved at /texts/meditations-long-en-source.txt. Source checked 28 October 2026; public-domain status can differ outside France.
Historical text: public domain in France. Project Gutenberg source and terms retained.
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