Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE,) fully Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, born Marcus Annius Verus, was the Roman emperor 161–180. He was engaged for much of his rule with wars against Germanic tribes. By nature philosophical contemplative, Marcus is also known for his aphorisms and reflections based on a Stoic outlook in his Meditations.
Born into a prominent Roman family, Marcus was adopted in 138 by Emperor Hadrian’s successor, Antoninus Pius (at Hadrian’s behest.) Marcus succeeded Antoninus as emperor in 161. During his reign, Rome faced troubles on the frontiers of the empire, and Marcus’s death is often considered the end of the golden age of the Roman Empire.
Marcus is well-known for the intimate notebook, Meditations that he wrote during the military campaigns of the last ten years of his life. According to scholars, Marcus may have turned to philosophy for mental stimulation while removed from the cultural and intellectual life of Rome.
The twelve books that comprise the Meditations are unorganized private reflections on life, death, personal conduct, and the cosmos, owe much to the Stoic philosophers Epictetus and Gaius Musonius Rufus, even though they were Marcus’s own thoughts.
Published unrevised only after Marcus’s death, Meditations were not very influential straightway. Later considered by many generations one of the greatest books of all times, Meditations are a substantial source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy.
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Neither worse then or better is a thing made by being praised.
—Marcus Aurelius
Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple will crumble to dust.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Confidence, Self-reliance, Self-Discovery
There is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Dignity
He tells himself over and over again in any choice presented to him, ‘Prefer the hard.’ This holds good not only in great matters, but also in very small, in fighting by the frozen Danube and in starting the day early.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Choice
If thou workest at that which is before thee… expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to Nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound which thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Happiness
Love only what befalls you and is spun for you by fate.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Acceptance
Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Understanding
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Happiness, Thinking, Thought
When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Control
I seek the truth…it is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance that does harm.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Wisdom, Persistence, Truth
How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Gossip, Opinion, Self-reliance, Confidence, Trouble, Opinions
There is change in all things. You yourself are subject to continual change and some decay, and this is common to the entire universe.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Change
Nothing befalls a man except what is in his nature to endure.
—Marcus Aurelius
Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.
—Marcus Aurelius
Let it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can happen equally to the bad man and the good. For that which happens equally to him who lives contrary to nature and to him who lives according to nature, is neither according to nature nor contrary to nature.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Goodness
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Self-respect, Self-Discovery, Honesty, Doing Your Best, Self Respect, Respect
Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Future, Live-now, The Future
All the transactions of the past differ very little from those of the present.
—Marcus Aurelius
In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his senses a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapours; life a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion. Where, then, can man find the power to guide and guard his steps? In one thing and one alone: the love of knowledge.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Knowledge
Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
—Marcus Aurelius
Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Love, Fate, Feelings, Acceptance
Snow endures but for a season, and joy comes with the morning.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Morning
A man’s true greatness lies in the consciousness of an honest purpose in life, founded on a just estimate of himself and everything else, on frequent self-examinations, and a steady obedience to the rule which he knows to be right, without troubling himself about what others may think or say, or whether they do or do not that which he thinks and says and does.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Greatness
Everything—a horse, a vine—is created for some duty…For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Vision, Love, Purpose
Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Destiny
This Being of mine, whatever it really is, consists of a little flesh, a little breath, and the part which governs
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Government
I have often wondered how it is everyone loves himself more than the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than the opinions of others.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Self-Esteem, Self Respect
Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.
—Marcus Aurelius
There is no misfortune, but to bear it nobly is good fortune.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Misfortune
It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.
—Marcus Aurelius
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