“Whatever this is that I am, it is flesh and a little spirit and an intelligence. (Hays translation)”

This that I am, whatever it be, is mere flesh and a little breathe and the ruling Reason (Haines translation)
This Being of mine, whatever it really is, consists of a little flesh, a little breath, and the part which governs.
A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all – that is myself.
II, 2
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book II

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Whatever this is that I am, it is flesh and a little spirit and an intelligence. (Hays translation)" by Marcus Aurelius?
Marcus Aurelius photo
Marcus Aurelius 400
Emperor of Ancient Rome 121–180

Related quotes

Marcus Aurelius photo

“Nothing happens to anyone that he can't endure. (Hays translation)”

Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.
Οὐδὲν οὐδενὶ συμβαίνει ὃ οὐχὶ ἐκεῖνο πέφυκε φέρειν.
V, 18
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V

Marcus Aurelius photo

“It is crazy to want what is impossible. And impossible for the wicked not to do so. (Hays translation)”

To seek what is impossible is madness: and it is impossible that the bad should not do something of this kind.
Τὸ τὰ ἀδύνατα διώκειν μανικόν· ἀδύνατον δὲ τὸ τοὺς φαύλους μὴ τοιαῦτά τινα ποιεῖν.
V, 17
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V

Andrew Tobias photo

“Hay fever suffers tend to be above average in intelligence,…”

Andrew Tobias (1947) American journalist

Source: The Invisible Bankers, Everything The Insurance Industry Never Wanted You To Know (1982), Chapter 12, They Bet Your Life, p. 225.

Heinrich Heine photo

“I am speaking of the religion whose earliest dogmas contain a condemnation of the flesh, and which not merely grants the spirit superiority over the flesh but also deliberately mortifies the flesh in order to glorify the spirit. I am speaking of the religion whose unnatural mission actually introduced sin and hypocrisy into the world, since just because of the condemnation of the flesh the most innocent pleasures of the senses became a sin and just because of the impossibility of our being wholly spirit hypocrisy inevitably developed.”

Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic

Ich spreche von jener Religion, in deren ersten Dogmen eine Verdammnis alles Fleisches enthalten ist, und die dem Geiste nicht bloß eine Obermacht über das Fleisch zugesteht, sondern auch dieses abtöten will, um den Geist zu verherrlichen; ich spreche von jener Religion, durch deren unnatürliche Aufgabe ganz eigentlich die Sünde und die Hypokrisie in die Welt gekommen, indem eben durch die Verdammnis des Fleisches die unschuldigsten Sinnenfreuden eine Sünde geworden und durch die Unmöglichkeit, ganz Geist zu sein, die Hypokrisie sich ausbilden mußte.
Source: The Romantic School (1836), p. 3

Abraham Lincoln photo

“Understanding the spirit of our institutions to aim at the elevation of men, I am opposed to whatever tends to degrade them.”

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States

Letter to Dr. Theodore Canisius (17 May 1859)
1850s

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin photo

“The reality of spirit-matter is inevitably translated into and confirmed by a structure of the spirit.”

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin (1881–1955) French philosopher and Jesuit priest

A Sketch of a Personalistic Universe (1936)

Martin Luther photo
Patrick Henry photo

“For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.”

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the United States

1770s, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" (1775)
Context: It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope and pride. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

William Tyndale photo

“The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

William Tyndale (1494–1536) Bible translator and agitator from England

Matthew 26:41.
Tyndale's translations

Related topics