Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
62 quotes
"Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just."
"A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions."
"Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not "This is misfortune," but "To bear this worthily is good fortune."
"Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power."
"Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them."
"For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason."
"As for thy thirst after books, away with it with all speed."
"That which has died falls not out of the universe. If it stays here, it also changes here, and is dissolved into its proper parts, which are elements of the universe and of thyself. And these too change, and they murmur not"."
"The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time."
"Give up your thirst for books, so that you do not die a grouch."
"Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them."
"That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty."
"Your mind will take on the character of your most frequent thoughts: souls are dyed by thoughts."
"Things of themselves cannot touch the soul at all. They have no entry to the soul, and cannot turn or move it. The soul alone turns and moves itself, making all externals presented to it cohere with the judgements it thinks worthy of itself."
"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?"
"Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature."
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."
"The things you think about determine the quality of your mind."
"Regain your senses, call yourself back, and once again wake up. Now that you realize that only dreams were troubling you, view this 'reality' as you view your dreams."
"When you arise in the moring, think of what a precious privelege it is to be alive-- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love"
"The world is mere change, and this life, opinion."
"When you run up against someone else’s shamelessness, ask yourself this: Is a world without shamelessness possible?No. Then don’t ask the impossible. There have to be shameless people in the world. This is one of them. The same for someone vicious or untrustworthy, or with any other defect. Remembering that the whole world class has to exist will make you more tolerant of its members."
"No more roundabout discussions of what makes a good man. Be one!"
"The blazing fire makes flames and brightness out of everything thrown into it."
"God give me patience, to reconcile with what I am not able to changeGive me strength to change what I canAnd give me wisdom to distinguish one from another."