The claim, as it circulates · Checked 2026-10-20
Did Marcus Aurelius say “The obstacle is the way”? What Meditations 5.20 actually says
The obstacle is the way.”
Marcus Aurelius, 121–180
PARAPHRASEShort answer · ParaphrasePartly. The idea comes from Meditations Book V §20, but “the obstacle is the way” is a modern slogan, popularised by Ryan Holiday’s 2014 book. The common line “What stands in the way becomes the way” is from Gregory Hays’s translation (2002), which is still under copyright. Below is the public-domain Casaubon translation.
The receipt: primary sourceNo. 007
For by these the mind doth turn and convert any impediment whatsoever, to be her aim and purpose. So that what before was the impediment, is now the principal object of her working; and that which before was in her way, is now her readiest way.
- Work
- Meditations, Book V §20
- Date
- c. AD 170–180
- Transl.
- Méric Casaubon (1634), public domain
- Source
- Meditations (Casaubon tr.) — Project Gutenberg #2680 ↗
- Checked
- 2026-10-20 · matched against the cached primary text
- The idea is Marcus Aurelius's. The short slogan is not.
- Translations are under copyright when they're recent, so we quote only public-domain ones.
Cite-safe version
“That which before was in her way, is now her readiest way.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations V.20 (tr. Méric Casaubon, 1634)