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
happiness lying practice
I can at once become happy anywhere, for he is happy who has found himself a happy lot. In a word, happiness lies all in the functions of reason, in warrantable desires and virtuous practice.
criticism opinion remember
Remember that all is opinion.
people fool
Because other people are fools, must you be so too?
death believe heaven
If souls survive death for all eternity, how can the heavens hold them all? Or for that matter, how can the earth hold all the bodies that have been buried in it? The answers are the same. Just as on earth, with the passage of time, decaying and transmogrified corpses make way for the newly dead, so souls released into the heavens, after a season of flight, begin to break up, burn, and be absorbed back into the womb of reason, leaving room for souls just beginning to fly. This is the answer for those who believe that souls survive death.
kindness men deeds
Man is born for deeds of kindness.
peace soul mind
Whoever values peace of mind and the health of the soul will live the best of all possible lives.
taken complaining harm
Take away the complaint, 'I have been harmed,' and the harm is taken away.
men littles gods-will
Do you see what little is required of a man to live a well-tempered and god-fearing life? Obey these precepts, and the gods will ask nothing more.
add praise
Praise adds nothing to beauty--makes it neither better nor worse.
vanity fame everlasting
And what after all is everlasting fame? Altogether vanity.
smart two evil
Gluttony and drunkenness have two evils attendant on them; they make the carcass smart, as well as the pocket.
soul one-thing worth-living
The one thing worth living for is to keep one's soul pure.
care vex
It is not right to vex ourselves at things, for they care not about it.
lying inspiration mean
The gods have provided me with clear and compelling signs of what it means to live in conformity to nature. They did their part. So far as their gifts, aid, and inspiration are concerned, nothing prevented me from following the path prescribed by nature. If from time to time I have strayed from this path, the fault lies with me and with my failure to heed the gods' signs, or rather, their explicit instructions.