Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason.

And to be the same in all circumstances—intense pain, the loss of a child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexibility.

As for thyself, thou hast to do with neither. Go thy ways then well pleased and contented: for so is He that dismisseth thee.

He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which has taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time without end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.

To them that are sick of the jaundice, honey seems bitter; and to them that are bitten by a mad dog, the water terrible; and to children, a little ball seems a fine thing. And why then should I be angry? or do I think that error and false opinion is less powerful to make men transgress, than either choler, being immoderate and excessive, to cause the jaundice; or poison, to cause rage?

Not to shrug off a friend's resentment—even unjustified resentment—but try to put things right.

Second, that both the longest-lived and the earliest to die suffer the same loss. It is only the present moment of which either stands to be deprived: and if indeed this is all he has, he cannot lose what he does not have.

lose him. To this end and purpose, let all thy prayer be, and see what will be the event.

There is nothing bad in undergoing change—or good in emerging from it.

When the object perishes, the pneuma that animated it is reabsorbed into the logos as a whole. This process of destruction and reintegration happens to individual objects at every moment.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: "I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm? —But it's nicer here. . . . So you were born to feel "nice"? Instead of doing things and experiencing them?

Now hath pain given thee the foil; thy courage hath failed thee.

I know the gods exist. . . .—from having felt their power, over and ove

From Alexander[B] the grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous or solecistic or strange-sounding expression; but dexterously to introduce the very expression which ought to have been used, and in the way of answer or giving confirmation

Al despuntar la aurora, hazte estas consideraciones previas: me encontraré con un indiscreto, un ingrato, un insolente, un mentiroso, un envidioso, un insociable.

Wipe out thy imaginations by often saying to thyself: Now it is in my power to let no badness be in this soul, nor desire, nor any perturbation at all; but looking at all things I see what is their nature, and I use each according to its value.—Remember this power which thou hast from nature.

Si la ciudad se perjudica no hay que irritarse con quien la perjudica, por el contrario hay que señalarle qué es lo que le pasó desapercibido.

To put it shortly: all things of the body stream away like a river, all things of the mind are dreams and delusion; life is warfare, and a visit in a strange land; the only lasting fame is oblivion.

and in long illness; and to see clearly in a living example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding, and not peevish in giving his instruction; and to have had before my eyes a man

But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own

O que depende de nós é, por natureza, livre, sem impedimento, sem contrariedade, enquanto o que não depende de nós é fraco, escravo, sujeito a impedimento, estranho

To feel affection for people even when they make mistakes is uniquely human. You can do it, if you simply recognize: that they're human too, that they act out of ignorance, against their will, and that you'll both be dead before long.

To run straight for the finish line, unswerving.

Is this present thing any good reason for my soul to be sick and out of sorts – humbled, craving, shackled, shying? Will you find any good reason for that?