Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations (Ad se ipsum, Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations with selected correspondence, Translated by Robin Hard and Introduction and Notes by Christopher Gill, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press, 2011

Book I, pp. 3, 9:

1. From my grandfather Verus, nobility of character and evenness of temper.

2. From the reputation of my father and what I remember of him, modesty and manliness.

3. From my mother, piety and generosity, and to abstain not only from doing wrong but even from contemplating such an act; and the simplicity, too, of her way of life, far removed from that of the rich.

4. From my great-grandfather, that I never had to attend the public schools, but benefited from good teachers at home, and to have come to realize that this is a matter on which one should spare no expense.

17. …

For all these things require the help of the gods and of fortune.

Explanatory Notes, p. 144:

This book, alone in the work, is systematically arranged, as a record of debts to other people (and to the gods, 1.17), which have helped to take forward the ethical development or journey that is the main theme of Med. (see Introduction, p. xv). With each comment (‘From . . .’), we need to supply the idea, ‘I have learned to value the following quality’ or ‘I have received the following benefit’.

The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, translated by George Long, Bell and Daldy, London, 18621 2

From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper.

From the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a manly character.

From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

From my great-grandfather, not to have frequented public schools, and to have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such things a man should spend liberally.

for all these things require the help of the gods and fortune.

M. Antonius Imperator Ad Se Ipsum, edited by Jan Hendrik Leopold, Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 19083 4

Aur. 1.4.1, p. 1:

Παρὰ τοῦ πάππου Οὐήρου τὸ καλόηθες καὶ ἀόργητον.

Παρὰ τῆς δόξης καὶ μνήμης τῆς περὶ τοῦ γεννήσαντος τὸ αἰδῆμον καὶ ἀρρενικόν.

Παρὰ τῆς μητρὸς τὸ θεοσεβὲς καὶ μεταδοτικὸν καὶ ἀφεκτικὸν οὐ μόνον τοῦ κακοποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ ἐννοίας γίνεσθαι τοιαύτης: ἔτι δὲ τὸ λιτὸν κατὰ τὴν δίαιταν καὶ πόρρω τῆς πλουσιακῆς διαγωγῆς.

Παρὰ τοῦ προπάππου τὸ μὴ εἰς δημοσίας διατριβὰς φοιτῆσαι καὶ τὸ ἀγαθοῖς διδασκάλοις κατ̓ οἶκον χρήσασθαι καὶ τὸ γνῶναι ὅτι εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα δεῖ ἐκτενῶς ἀναλίσκειν.

πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα ῾θεῶν βοηθῶν καὶ τύχης δεῖται.᾿