The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Book V, §20 (180 CE) Translated by Gregory Hays
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When and why it was written
- When
- Around 170 CE, during the Marcomannic wars on the Danube frontier.
- Why
- Marcus faced constant obstruction: plague, revolt, uncooperative allies. This is the reframe he used on it.
What it means
The line does not say obstacles are secretly good. It says an obstacle changes what the right action is, and the new right action is available immediately.
Marcus is describing a redirection, not an attitude. The wall in front of you has removed one option and thereby specified the next move. Most of what is lost when we are blocked is lost in the interval spent objecting.
Read the source
Meditations, 180 CE
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