Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

The world is maintained by change- in the elements and in the things they compose. That should be enough for you; treat it as an axiom.

To live with the gods." And to do that is to show them that your soul accepts what it is given and does what the spirit requires—the spirit God gave each of us to lead and guide us, a fragment of himself. Which is our mind, our logos.

13. Someone despises me. That's their problem. Mine: not to do or say anything despicable. Someone hates me. Their problem. Mine: to be patient and cheerful with everyone, including them. Ready to show them their mistake. Not spitefully, or to show off my own self-control, but in an honest, upright way.

Fear of death is fear of what we may experience. Nothing at all, or something quite new. But if we experience nothing, we can experience nothing bad. And if our experience changes, then our existence will change with it—change, but not cease.

as if you were dying right now, despise your flesh. A mess of blood, pieces of bone, a woven tangle of nerves, veins, arteries. Consider what the spirit is: air, and never the same air

the soul does violence to itself when it is overpowered by pleasure or by pain.

that the death of earth, is water, and the death of water, is air; and the death of air, is fire; and so on the contrary.

Look inward. Don't let the true nature or value of anything elude you.

What is it that thou dost stay for? an extinction, or a translation; either of them with a propitious and contented mind. But still that time come, what will content thee? what else, but to worship and praise the Gods; and to do good unto men. To bear with them, and to forbear to do them any wrong. And for all external things belonging either to this thy wretched body, or life, to remember that they are neither thine, nor in thy power.

for a man to be proud and high conceited, that he is not proud and high conceited, is of all kind of pride and presumption, the most intolerable.

Love the discipline you know, and let it support you. Entrust everything willingly to the gods, and then make your way through life—no one's master and no one's slave.

Fijar y describir siempre el objeto cuya imagen se presenta al espi­ritu, de suerte que se le ve placidamente, tal como es por naturaleza, desnudo, bajo diversos aspectos y decirse asi mismo su nombre y los nombres de los elementos que lo conforman y en los que se desintegrara. Nada en efecto contribuye a la grandeza del animo como poder comprobar con orden y exactitud cada uno de los objetos que representan la vida y verlos siempre de tal conformidad

Yes. This will be a drama in three acts, the length fixed by the power that directed your creation, and now directs your dissolution. Neither was yours to determine. So make your exit with grace—the same grace shown to you.

the good for a rational being is community. It was established long ago that we were born for community.

There is a limit to the time assigned to you, and if you don't use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return.

All is ephemeral, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.

53. Practice really hearing what people say. Do your best to get inside their minds.

And if all men refuse to believe that he lives a simple, modest, and contented life, he is neither angry with any of them, nor does he deviate from the way which leads to the end of life, to which a man ought to come pure, tranquil, ready to depart, and without any compulsion perfectly reconciled to his lot.

Jadilah seperti tebing di pinggir laut yang terus dihujam ombak, tetapi tetap tegar dan menjinakkan murka air di sekitarnya.

and the end of rational animals is to follow the reason and the law of the most ancient city and polity.

I affirm that tranquillity is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat, and renew thyself; and let thy principles be brief and fundamental, which, as soon as thou shalt recur to them, will be sufficient to cleanse the soul completely, and to send thee back free from all discontent with the things to which thou returnest.

Let the fulfilling and accomplishment of those things which the common nature hath determined, be unto thee as thy health. Accept then, and be pleased with whatsoever doth happen, though otherwise harsh and un-pleasing, as tending to that end, to the health and welfare of the universe, and to Jove's happiness and prosperity.

Nothing happens to anyone that he's not equipped by nature to bear.

But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion.