All of Us Are Creatures of a Day; the Rememberer and the Remembered Alike

Marcus Aurelius? Irvin D. Yalom? George Long? John Jackson? Martin Hammond? Ivar Lissner? Apocryphal?

Question for Quote Investigator: The book “Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy” by U.S. psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom begins with the following passage attributed to Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius in “The Meditations”:^[1] 2015, Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy by Irvin D. Yalom, Epigram at beginning of book, Quote Page viii, Basic Books, New York. (Verified with scans)

All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory. The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere.

This excerpt is confusing because I have been unable to find the full text; instead, I have found only fragments. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: QI believes that this passage was assembled from statements in three different locations within “The Meditations” of Marcus Aurelius: Book 4—35, Book 7—21, and Book 12—21. Below are citations showing multiple translations.

The first sentence of the quotation in the inquiry above is based on book four, section 35 of “The Meditations”. Here is a translation by George Long published in 1862. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:^[2] 1862, The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by George Long, Book 4, Section 35, Quote Page 53, Bell and Daldy, London. (Google Books Full View) link

35. Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.

Here is a translation of section 35 from John Jackson published in 1906:^[3] 1906, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by John Jackson, Book 4, Section 35, Quote Page 89, Clarendon Press, Oxford, England. (Verified with scans) link

35 All is ephemeral, the remembering alike with the remembered.

Here is a translation of section 35 from Maxwell Staniforth published in 1964:
^[4] 1964 Copyright, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Translation by Maxwell Staniforth, Book 4, Section 35, Quote Page 72, Penguin Books: Penguin Group, London. (Google Books Preview)

35. All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike.

In 1983 the version immediately above also appeared in “The Oxford Book of Aphorisms” edited by John Gross:^[5] 1983, The Oxford Book of Aphorisms, Chosen by John Gross, Topic: Time & Transience, Quote Page 347, Oxford University Press, New York. (Verified with scans)

All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2nd century

Interestingly, the second sentence of the quotation in the inquiry is an alternative translation of book four, section 35 in “The Meditations”. Here is a rendering from 2006 by Martin Hammond in the Penguin Classics series:^[6] 2014 (2006 Copyright), Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Translation by Martin Hammond, Series: Penguin Classics, Book 4, Section 35, Quote Page 43, Penguin Random House UK. (Google Books Preview)

35 All is ephemeral, both memory and the object of memory.

The third sentence of the quotation is based on book seven, section 21 of “The Meditations”. Here is an 1862 translation by George Long:^[7] 1862, The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by George Long, Book 7, Section 21, Quote Page 105, Bell and Daldy, London. (Google Books Full View) link

21. Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of thee by all.

Here is a translation from John Jackson published in 1906:^[8] 1906, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by John Jackson, Book 7, Section 21, Quote Page 130, Clarendon Press, Oxford, England. (Verified with scans) link

21 The time is near when thou shalt forget all men; and the time is near when all men shall forget thee.

In 1958 the book “The Caesars: Might and Madness” by Ivar Lissner included a chapter epigraph containing the following:^[9]1958, The Caesars: Might and Madness by Ivar Lissner, Translated from the German by J. Maxwell Brownjohn, Chapter: Marcus Aurelius – The Time Is at Hand, Quote Page 199 (Chapter epigraph) and … Continue reading

The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, vii, 21

The fourth sentence of the quotation is based on book twelve, section 21 of “The Meditations”. Here is an 1862 translation by George Long:^[10] 1862, The Thoughts of the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by George Long, Book 12, Section 21, Quote Page 210, Bell and Daldy, London. (Google Books Full View) link

21. Consider that before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the things exist which thou now seest, nor any of those who are now living. For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned and to perish in order that other things in continuous succession may exist.

Here is a translation from John Jackson published in 1906:^[11] 1906, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Translated by John Jackson, Book 12, Section 21, Quote Page 207, Clarendon Press, Oxford, England. (Verified with scans)

21 Reflect that, in a little while, thou shalt be nothingness and no place shall know thee, nor shall anything be of all that now thou seest, nor any man of those who are now in life. For all things are by nature framed to change, transmute, and decay, that others may rise to fill their places.

In 1958 the book “The Caesars: Might and Madness” by Ivar Lissner included a chapter epigraph containing the following:^[12]1958, The Caesars: Might and Madness by Ivar Lissner, Translated from the German by J. Maxwell Brownjohn, Chapter: Marcus Aurelius – The Time Is at Hand, Quote Page 199 (Chapter epigraph) and … Continue reading

Always reflect that soon you will be no one and nowhere.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, xii, 21.

In conclusion, QI believes that the quotation attributed to Marcus Aurelius in “Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy” was constructed by combining statements located in different sections of “The Meditations”. The source locations were Book 4—35, Book 7—21, and Book 12—21. Multiple translations of these statements have been created over time.

Image Notes: Public domain conjectural illustration of Marcus Aurelius. Image has been resized.

(Great thanks to Tom Fuller whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Also, thanks to discussant Brian Whatcott.)