Skip to content
QuoteQuest

“but especially how ingeniously he would yield to any that had obtained any peculiar faculty, as either eloquence, or the knowledge of the laws, or of ancient customs, or the like;”

Attribution not independently verified against a primary source.

— Marcus Aurelius

Verification

Attributed

Recorded by a reliable secondary source; exact wording may differ.

Wording, source authorship and rights checked against retrieved text; not an independent editorial review.

Live wording check · 2026-10-26

Author: Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius orator; but as a ripe mature man, a perfect sound man; one that could not endure to be flattered; able to govern both himself and others. Moreover, how much he did honour all true philosophers, without upbraiding those that were not so; his sociableness, his gracious and delightful conversation, but never unto satiety; his care of his body within bounds and measure, not as one that desired to live long, or over-studious of neatness, and elegancy; and yet not as one that did not regard it: so that through his own care and providence, he seldom needed any inward physic, or outward applications: but especially how ingeniously he would yield to any that had obtained any peculiar faculty, as either eloquence, or the knowledge of the laws, or of ancient customs, or the like; and how he concurred with them, in his best care and endeavour that every one of them might in his kind, for that wherein he excelled, be regarded and esteemed: and although he did all things carefully after the ancient customs of his forefathers, yet even of this was he not desirous that men should take notice, that he did imitate ancient customs. Again, how he was not easily moved and tossed up and down, but loved to be constant, both in the same places and businesses; and how after his great fits of headache he would return fresh and vigorous to his wonted affairs. Again, that secrets he n Public domain in the USA.
Read evidence

Source

Title
Meditations
Type
Public-domain primary text · Primary source
View source at publisher

Context

Marcus praises his father's willingness to defer to specialized ability.

What it means

Highlights intellectual humility and respect for expertise.

Cite this source

Bibliography entry
Aurelius, Marcus. (n.d.). Meditations. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2680/pg2680.txt
Quotation citation
Aurelius (n.d.)
In-text citation
(Aurelius, n.d.)

Incomplete citation — missing: publication date, publisher, page or location. Check citations against your institution's style guide.

Citation draft only — confirm wording, speaker and the underlying source before submitting schoolwork.

Report a problem

Provenance: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2680/pg2680.txt