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The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20

Philosophy

The story behind the card

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor from AD 161 to 180, wrote the Meditations in Greek as private notes to himself, some while on campaign by the Danube. In this passage he is thinking about people who get in his way: they can block an action, he says, but not his intentions, because the mind turns the obstacle into something to work with, such as a chance to practise patience. The card follows Gregory Hays's 2002 translation, and Ryan Holiday's 2014 book The Obstacle Is the Way made the line famous.

Türkçe oku
Eyleme engel olan şey, eylemi ilerletir. Yolu tıkayan şey, yolun kendisi olur.
Marcus Aurelius, Kendime Düşünceler 5.20

Marcus Aurelius MS 161–180 yılları arasında Roma imparatoruydu. Kendime Düşünceler'i Yunanca, yalnızca kendisi için tuttuğu notlar olarak yazdı; bir kısmını Tuna kıyısındaki seferlerde kaleme aldı. Bu pasajda yoluna çıkan insanları düşünür: Onlar bir işini engelleyebilir, der, ama niyetini engelleyemez; çünkü zihin engeli üzerinde çalışılacak bir malzemeye, örneğin sabır göstermek için bir fırsata dönüştürür. Karttaki söz, Gregory Hays'in 2002 tarihli İngilizce çevirisinden alındı; Ryan Holiday'in 2014'te yayımlanan The Obstacle Is the Way adlı kitabı da sözü ünlü yaptı.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Meditations
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