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
certain consider correct deal dost enable great judgment learn man men pass reference thou understand whether wrong
Consider that thou dost not even understand whether men are doing wrong or not, for many things are done with a certain reference to circumstance. And, in short, a man must learn a great deal to enable him to pass a correct judgment on another man's acts.
blessing ephemeral falls human humankind journey nature observe olive pass produced space thy time tree worthless
Always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are. Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.
equal gone minute ours passing
The passing minute is every man's equal possession, but what has once gone by is not ours
passion men ignorant
The mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future be inexpugnable . He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man: but he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.
passing-away existence non-existence
Nothing proceeds from nothingness, as also nothing passes away into non-existence.
passion men mind
Let thy chief fort and place of defense be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this, hath no man.
anger passion men
In the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer to freedom from all passion, in the same degree also is it nearer to strength.
board deny last night perfumes
The perfumes at our board last night - Were exquisite, I won't deny it, But we were starved, we were outright, For meat, could no how come by it
life lying men
Every man's life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.
life expression life-is
Your life is an expression of all your thoughts.
earth lightly rest thee
Rest lightly on her earth, for she trod never heavily on thee
act dignity life observed performance proper proportion remember
Remember this, - that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life
life lives loses man nor remember
Remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses
drinks mistake morning next till
It is a mistake to think that Acerra reeks of yesterday's liquor: Acerra always drinks till next morning