Passage of the day · Friday 6 November 2026
If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgement about it. And you have the power to wipe out this judgement now.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.47 · modern English rendering · check the source
George Long translation
If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.
Modern reading
Marcus makes the same point Epictetus does, and adds an encouraging note: the judgement can be changed now, not someday. That doesn't make every pain disappear. It means part of what hurts is our own reading of events, and that part is within reach.
One thing to do today
Choose one worry you're carrying and ask, 'What would I think of this if it happened to a friend?' Take that view for the rest of the day.
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