To shrug it all off and wipe it clean--every annoyance and distraction--and reach utter stillness. Child's play. (Hays translation)
• V, 2
• V, 2
“
How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility.
— Marcus Aurelius
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility." in the context of "To shrug it all off and wipe it clean--every annoyance and distraction--and reach utter stillness. Child's play. (Hays translation)
• V, 2" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Marcus Aurelius" (Quotes, Meditations (c. AD 121–180): (full text)There are many different translations of these, often with different nuances of interpretation and sometimes different arrangements., Book V)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Tags
About Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors (a term coined some 13 centuries later by Niccolò Machiavelli), and the last emperor of the Pax Romana (27 BC to 180), an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.
About Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors (a term coined some 13 centuries later by Niccolò Machiavelli), and the last emperor of the Pax Romana (27 BC to 180), an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.
View all quotes →