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
goal raw-materials purpose
Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it--turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself, so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal.
forever flow fountain
Dig inside. Inside is the fountain of good, and it will forever flow, if you will forever dig.
worst-enemy body actors
The body of an actor can be either his best friend or his worst enemy.
bears way happens
Everything that happens either happens in such a way as you are formed by nature to bear it, or as you are not formed by nature to bear it.
madmen pursue impossibility
It is the act of a madman to pursue impossibilities .
mind remember changing-your-mind
Remember that to change your mind and follow him who sets you right is to be none the less free than you were before.
morning work men
In the morning, when you are sluggish about getting up, let this thought be present: 'I am rising to a man's work.'
social universe
The intelligence of the universe is social.
men suits every-man
The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself.
prize universe
Prize that which is best in the universe; and this is that which useth everything and ordereth everything.
grief causes opinion
Ifit be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine own conceit and opinion concerning the thing: which thou mayest rid thyself of, when thou wilt.
Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing.
together world gone
How many together with whom I came into the world are already gone out of it.
men deeds noise
A man makes no noise over a good deed, but passes on to another as a vine to bear grapes again in season.