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In Book 7 of Meditations, Marcus writes to himself (as the Gregory Hays translation, which you can grab a special edition of here, has it):

“Take care that you don’t treat inhumanity as it treats human beings.”

What does that mean? What exactly does Marcus mean by “inhumanity”? Hurricanes are inhuman. ChatGPT is inhuman. They might be ruthless forces of nature or technology, but they’re not out to get human beings. Does it matter how you treat them? With a passage like this, it is helpful to, as we’ve done a few times now, look at various translations.

In his great annotated edition of Meditations, Robin Waterfield translated that same passage like this:

“Be sure not to behave toward antisocial people as people behave toward other people.”

In the Hicks & Hicks translation, The Emperor’s Handbook, it’s,

“Don’t feel for misanthropes what they feel for mankind.”

The 19th century British translator George Long has it like this,

“Take care not to feel towards the inhuman as they feel towards men.”

And, finally, The Daily Stoic translator Steve Hanselman has,

“See to it that you don’t hold feelings toward misanthropes like they do for other people.”

What Marcus is really saying is that you can’t let the world, you can’t let other people get you down or change you. In fact, a more colloquial and modern way to translate the essence of his quote might be: “Don’t let the sonsofbitches turn you into a sonuvabitch.”

Don’t let inhumanity affect your humanity. Whatever happens, however you’re treated, do your best to remain kind, patient, helpful, understanding, generous, courageous, just and wise.

Coalition Calendar: Nov.