On translations of Marcus Aurelius, dealing with difficult circumstances and acquiring wisdom (or not)
Here's an example of why I vastly prefer Robin Hard's translation of Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" (over Gregory Hays' translation): First Gregory Hays' translation of Meditations 9.6: "Objective judgment, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance—now, at this very moment—of all external events. That’s all you need." Next, Robin Hard's translation of the same passage: "It is sufficient that your present judgement should grasp its object, that your present action should be directed to the common good, that your present disposition should be well satisfied with all that happens to it from a cause outside itself." In my opinion, Hard's translation is more in line with Stoicism. Stoicism is not about passively accepting external circumstances but about always actively wanting them to be exactly as they are. "Let us arrange our minds in such a way that whatever circumstances requ