The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

Re:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by ecmendenhall on Sunday February 03, 2013 @03:27PM (#5161007)

I second this. But don't take my word for it. Here is 5.24 (one of my favorites) translated by Long:

  "Think of the universal substance, of which thou hast a 
  very small portion; and of universal time, of which a short
  and indivisible interval has been assigned to thee; and of
  that which is fixed by destiny, and how small a part of it
  thou art."

And by Hays:

  "Remember:
  Matter. How tiny your share of it.
  Time. How brief and fleeting your allotment of it.
  Fate. How small a role you play in it."

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Re:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by grannyg00se on Sunday February 03, 2013 @03:37PM (#5161049)

Very diffeernt styles but I'm not sure how I would choose one over the other. I don't know which is closer to the original.

Actually, I'm not even sure that's a consideration I'm interested in. I might be more interested in a translation that most efficiently communicates the intended message.

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Re:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by thisrod on Sunday February 03, 2013 @06:47PM (#5161718)

A literal translation, the Stoics having doubtless written in formal Latin, it being so concise, might appear more as riddle than prose to English speakers.

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Re:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by stan_rogers on Sunday February 03, 2013 @11:28PM (#5162426)

Koine (vulgar or Hellenist) Greek, actually, but the point still stands.

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Re:The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius by fcmk on Sunday February 03, 2013 @03:53PM (#5161105)

I wouldn't be surprised if someone's personal writings were concise. This is how I write for myself, so I prefer Hays.

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