QuotesCosmos
II, 17
“

Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion. (Hays translation)

— Marcus Aurelius

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion. (Hays translation)" in the context of "II, 17" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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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 II) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Marcus Aurelius#lasting#life#body#soul#unpredictable#translation#changeable#perception#reputation#momentary#condition
Marcus Aurelius

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.