Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aureliuswas Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus' death in 169. Marcus Aurelius was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. He was a practitioner of Stoicism, and his untitled writing, commonly known as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, is the most significant source of our modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 April 121
CityRome, Italy
pain past mind
Remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind, if it is unable to hold out against even this.
mind wish affair
Purge your mind of all aimless and idle thoughts, especially those that pry into the affairs of others or wish them ill.
men years three
Though thou be destined to live three thousand years and as many myriads besides, yet remember that no man loseth other life than that which he liveth, nor liveth other than that which he loseth.
art metamorphosis corruption
Everything is in a state of metamorphosis. Thou thyself art in everlasting change and in corruption to correspond; so is the whole universe.
men every-man
Understand however that every man is worth just so much as the things are worth about which he busies himself.
skills stealing thee
Everywhere and at all times it is in thy power piously to acquiesce in thy present condition, and to behave justly to those who are about thee, and to exert thy skill upon thy present thoughts, that nothing shall steal into them without being well examined.
cutting reason rational
Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.
doe principles tranquility
Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquility.
selfish refinement busybodies
Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody.
men flow divine
Thou seest how few be the things, the which if a man has at his command his life flows gently on and is divine.
morrow be-good
Thou sufferest justly: for thou choosest rather to become good to-morrow than to be good to-day.
done natural given
The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do.
soul fancy cognitive-therapy
Things can never touch the soul, but stand inert outside it, so that disquiet can arise only from fancies within.
beauty beautiful art
Anything that is beautiful is beautiful just as it is. Praise forms no part of its beauty, since praise makes things neither better nor worse. This applies even more to what it commonly called beautiful: natural objects, for example, or works of art. True beauty has no need of anything beyond itself.