Marcus Aurelius wrote the argument behind “the obstacle is the way”. He did not write that exact six-word slogan in English.
The famous wording comes from Gregory Hays's 2002 translation of Meditations 5.20. Ryan Holiday then compressed the idea into the title of his 2014 book, The Obstacle Is the Way.
- Common attribution: Marcus Aurelius
- Ancient source: Meditations 5.20
- Famous English wording: Gregory Hays
- Modern six-word title: Ryan Holiday
- Status: Genuine passage, modern translation and later compression
- Confidence: High
This is not a fake quote. It is a good example of why a translator and passage number matter.
The quotation people usually mean
Hays renders the end of Meditations 5.20 like this:
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20, translated by Gregory Hays
That exact English belongs to the translator as well as the ancient author. Marcus wrote in Greek. A quotation card that names Marcus but drops Hays has left out part of the source.
George Long's nineteenth-century translation makes the same movement in less polished English:
“That which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.”
The family resemblance is clear. The slogan is not invented from nothing. It is one modern rendering of a real sentence.
The context is other people, not personal success
The line is normally used as a general motto about adversity. The actual section begins with a more specific problem: other people.
Marcus reminds himself that human beings are his proper work. He owes them help and patience. Yet people can also obstruct a particular task, just as heat, wind or an animal might. They can prevent one action from going as planned, but they cannot force him to abandon his judgement, intention or character.
That is where the obstacle becomes useful.
If someone blocks one route, Marcus still has material for another kind of action. He can practise patience without becoming passive, justice without controlling the result, or flexibility without pretending the obstruction is pleasant.
This matters because the motivational version often changes the subject. It can sound as though every setback is secretly a step towards money, status or victory. Marcus is talking about something harder to measure: whether he can continue acting with virtue when the original plan fails.
The obstacle does not guarantee the outcome. It exposes the next choice.
How the translation became a slogan
The compact wording entered modern circulation through Hays's Meditations, published by Modern Library in 2002.
Ryan Holiday used the full Hays sentence in a 2009 post titled “The Obstacle Becomes the Way”. Five years later, The Obstacle Is the Way turned a shortened form into a book title. The publisher describes the book as a modern account of converting adversity into advantage.
That is a legitimate adaptation. It is also a different artefact from Marcus's notebook.
The clean attribution is therefore:
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20, translated by Gregory Hays.
If you use only “The obstacle is the way”, call it a modern compression of the passage rather than putting quotation marks around it as though those six English words survived from antiquity.
What Marcus's claim does mean
An external obstacle can block an activity. It cannot settle what kind of person you will be next.
This is closely related to the Stoic reserve clause. You pursue an aim seriously while admitting that its completion depends on conditions beyond your choice. When the condition fails, you do not have to pretend nothing mattered. You adapt the action while preserving the quality of your purpose.
Marcus returns to the image elsewhere. In Meditations 8.35, the rational creature can make obstruction into material for a new purpose. In 4.1, he compares a trained mind to a strong fire that takes in what falls on it and uses the material as fuel.
The important word is can.
Stoicism does not promise that suffering automatically improves you. An obstacle becomes useful only through judgement and action. The same setback can also produce resentment, avoidance or cruelty.
The four Stoic virtues keep the slogan from becoming empty toughness. Ask which response is wise, just, courageous and measured. “Push harder” is not always the answer.
What it does not mean
It does not mean every obstacle is good.
Illness, abuse, grief and injustice remain painful or dangerous. The reasonable action may be treatment, distance, protection, reporting harm or asking for help. Calling the obstacle “the way” must never become a reason to remain in avoidable danger.
It also does not mean another person's refusal is an invitation to manipulate them. If someone says no, your next material may be disappointment, respect for their boundary and a change of plan.
Nor does the line prove that failure was secretly necessary. Sometimes a blocked route is simply blocked. The Stoic claim is narrower: even then, the quality of your next judgement and action has not been decided for you.
A three-question obstacle test
Take one problem that is active today and answer three questions.
- What outcome has been blocked? Name the concrete result you wanted.
- What choice remains open? Separate your next judgement or action from the result you cannot force.
- Which virtue fits now? Choose one small response that is wise, just, courageous or measured.
Suppose a proposal is rejected. You cannot make the other person approve it. You can ask what was missing, improve the evidence, offer a smaller test or decide that the project no longer deserves more time.
The rejection is not automatically a gift. It is now the material in front of you.
Stop after naming one next action. The exercise should clarify the path, not turn adversity into another demand to optimise every painful event.
How this quotation was checked
The Stoic Codex Quote Bank, Marcus notes, adversity material and misconceptions dossier supplied the internal research map. The Codex records both the public-domain Long rendering and the later Hays wording, while flagging the difference between an ancient passage and modern packaging.
The public claim was then checked against the complete section in multiple translations, the bibliographic record for Hays's edition, Ryan Holiday's 2009 post and the publisher's record of the 2014 book. The surrounding paragraph was read because a source is not only a matching sentence. It is also the argument the sentence belongs to.
For more verified, shortened and misattributed lines, use the Stoic Quote Source Audit. The source-checked Stoic quotes hub is the better place to browse quotations by theme.
Sources
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20, A. S. L. Farquharson translation and passage comparison.
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20, translated by George Long.
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 8, especially 8.35, translated by A. S. L. Farquharson.
- Modern Library's Gregory Hays edition of Meditations, bibliographic record for the 2002 publication.
- Ryan Holiday, “The Obstacle Becomes the Way”, published in 2009.
- Profile Books, The Obstacle Is the Way: 10th Anniversary Edition, confirming the original 2014 book and modern framing.
- The Stoic Codex Quote Bank, misconceptions dossier and Marcus source notes, consulted as the internal map and checked back against the public sources above.
Frequently asked questions
Did Marcus Aurelius really say “the obstacle is the way”?
He wrote the underlying passage in Meditations 5.20. Gregory Hays translated its ending as “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” The shorter six-word slogan is a modern compression.
Who wrote “What stands in the way becomes the way”?
Marcus Aurelius is the ancient author and Gregory Hays is the translator responsible for that famous English wording. A complete citation names both and gives Meditations 5.20.
Did Ryan Holiday invent the quote?
No. Holiday adapted a genuine Marcus passage and Hays translation. His 2014 book turned the idea into the title The Obstacle Is the Way.
What does “the obstacle is the way” mean in Stoicism?
An obstacle may block one activity without determining your next judgement or action. You can adapt and use the new situation as material for a virtuous response, even when the original outcome remains unavailable.
Does Stoicism say every obstacle is good?
No. Pain, injustice and danger do not become good merely because they happened. The claim is that a person can still choose a wise and just response, which may include leaving, seeking help or protecting someone.