quote · Legacy record
Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say, "How unlucky that this should happen to me!" Not at all! Say instead, "How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened and am not afraid of what is about to happen. The same blow might have struck anyone, but not many would have absorbed it without capitulation or complaint.
Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say, "How unlucky that this should happen to me!" Not at all! Say instead, "How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened and am not afraid of what is about to happen. The same blow might have struck anyone, but not many would have absorbed it without capitulation or complaint.
Approximate author period: c. 150 AD · classical
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Marcus Aurelius
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 150 AD · classical
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 121 to 180; Wikidata Q1430, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1430 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 273611; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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