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
two giving community
Always follow these two rules: first, act only on what your reasoning mind proposes for the good of humanity, and second, change your opinion if someone shows you it's wrong. This change of mind must proceed only from the conviction that it's both correct and for the common good, but not because it will give you pleasure and make you popular.
inspirational power judging
If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgement of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgement now.
inspirational life happiness
Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.
nature philosophical men
Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.
inspirational thinking light
Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.
men done undone
A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.
days-gone-by gone virtue
Remind oneself continually of one of those who practiced virtue in days gone by.
believe thinking order
All things are linked with one another, and this oneness is sacred; there is nothing that is not interconnected with everything else. For things are interdependent, and they combine to form this universal order. There is only one universe made up of all things, and one creator who pervades them; there is one substance and one law, namely, common reason in all thinking creatures, and all truth is one-if, as we believe, there is only one path of perfection for all beings who share the same mind.
integrity years over-you
Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.
self-esteem independence self-determination
For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.
morning rising world
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present - I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?
inspirational self personality
It is not the body, nor the personality that is the true self. The true self is eternal. Even on the point of death we can say to ourselves, "my true self is free. I cannot be contained."
love family happiness
No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such
philosophical men live-well
Where a man can live, he can also live well.