It is a shameful thing for the soul to faint while the body still perseveres.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Perseverance
To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Happiness, Soul
The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Wisdom
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Thinking, Happiness, Thought
Dress not thy thoughts in too fine a raiment. And be not a man of superfluous words or superfluous deeds.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Money
For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember these two points: first, that each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle, and that it signifies not whether a man shall look upon the same things for a hundred years or two hundred, or for an infinity of time; second, that the longest lived and the shortest lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Time
Men exist for the sake of one another. Either teach them or bear with them.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Help, Cooperation
Nothing is evil which is according to nature.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Evil
This is moral perfection: to live each day as though it were the last; to be tranquil, sincere.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Perfectionism
We ought to do good to others as simply and naturally as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Kindness, Goodness
Let your one delight and refreshment be to pass from one service to the community to another, with God ever in mind.
—Marcus Aurelius
Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple will crumble to dust.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Self-Discovery, Self-reliance, Confidence
Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Life, Power, Goodness, Action
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
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: Live-now, Future, The Future
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
—Marcus Aurelius
Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not “This is misfortune,” but “To bear this worthily is good fortune.”
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Acceptance
Nothing befalls a man except what is in his nature to endure.
—Marcus Aurelius
Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, o Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, which is in due time for thee.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Harmony
Thou must be like a promontory of the sea,
against which, though the waves beat continually,
yet it both itself stands, and about it are
those swelling waves stilled and quieted.
—Marcus Aurelius
Why do we shrink from change? What can come into being save by change?
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Change
Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Destiny
Every man is worth just as much as the things he busies himself with.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Busy
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
You will give yourself peace of mind if you perform every act of your life as if it were you last.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Peace, Action
Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all eternity; and the implication of causes was, from eternity, spinning the thread of thy being, and of that which is incident to it.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Fate
When thou art above measure angry, bethink thee how momentary a man’s life is.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Anger
Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Difficulty
Our understandings are always liable to error.—Nature and certainty are very hard to come at, and infallibility is mere vanity and pretence.
—Marcus Aurelius
Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
—Marcus Aurelius
Topics: Solitude, Serenity
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
- Jacques Derrida French Philosopher, Literary Theorist
- John Rawls American Philosopher
- Karl Popper Austrian-born British Philosopher
- Zeno of Citium Greek Philosopher
- Jeremy Bentham British Philosopher, Economist
- Friedrich Schleiermacher German Theologian
- Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach German Philosopher
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel German Philosopher
- Mencius Chinese Philosopher, Sage
- Boethius Roman Statesman, Philosopher
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