Prayers and hymns Marcus Aurelius

Address to the Universe

Meditations 4.23

Original text

Greek

The ancient words

Πᾶν μοι συναρμόζει ὃ σοὶ εὐάρμοστόν ἐστιν, ὦ κόσμε· οὐδέν μοι πρόωρον οὐδὲ ὄψιμον ὃ σοὶ εὔκαιρον. πᾶν μοι καρπὸς ὃ φέρουσιν αἱ σαὶ ὧραι, ὦ φύσις· ἐκ σοῦ πάντα, ἐν σοὶ πάντα, εἰς σὲ πάντα. ἐκεῖνος μέν φησιν· ʽὦ πόλι φίλη Κέκροπος·ʼ σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἐρεῖς· ʽὦ πόλι φίλη Διός;ʼ

Modern rendering

Close to the words

Literal English · editorial draft

Everything is fitting for me that fits together well for you, O ordered world. Nothing is early or late for me that is timely for you. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bear, O Nature. From you are all things; in you are all things; into you are all things. One man says, “Dear city of Cecrops”; will you not say, “Dear city of Zeus”?

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Historical translation

1634 · Source edition ↗

Whatsoever is expedient unto thee, O World, is expedient unto me; nothing can either be unseasonable unto me, or out of date, which unto thee is seasonable. Whatsoever thy seasons bear, shall ever by me be esteemed as happy fruit, and increase. O Nature! from thee are all things, in thee all things subsist, and to thee all tend. Could he say of Athens, Thou lovely city of Cecrops; and shalt not thou say of the world, Thou lovely city of God?

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Sources & notes

Historical editions may include surrounding context or use different phrasing. Parallel columns compare passages; their lines are not word-for-word alignments.

The source review is selective. Additional prototype transcriptions are preserved in the repository pending verification. Editorial method →