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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.
— Marcus Aurelius ‧ Meditations
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker says distress comes not from outside events but from our opinion of them. Since that opinion is ours, we can drop it at once. The passage puts control in the mind's verdicts, offering release by revising judgment rather than changing circumstances.
Context reviewed