Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

Whether he lives a long time or a short time amounts to the same thing, for the present moment is of equal duration for everyone, and that is all any man possesses.

not to regard anything at all, though never so little, but right and reason: and always, whether in the sharpest pains, or after the loss of a child, or in long diseases, to be still the same man;

consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are angry and vexed

Sexual ecstasy is like death. It is one of the secrets of nature's wisdom.

Where is the harm or surprise in the ignorant behaving as the ignorant do?

Nothing is so conducive to spiritual growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.

nenhum homem perde vida alguma além daquela que ele vive hoje, nem vive outra vida além daquela que se vai.

To him they are only sectaries 'violently and passionately set upon opposition.

when thou art much vexed or grieved, that man's life is only a moment, and after a short time we are all laid out dead.

9. Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human—however imperfectly—and fully embrace the pursuit that you've embarked on.

Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou losest the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such thoughts as these

Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone — those that are now, and those to come. Existence flows past us like a river: the "what" is in constant flux, the "why" has a thousand variations. Nothing is stable, not even what's right here. The infinity of past and future gapes before us — a chasm whose depths we cannot see.

Failure to read what is happening in another's soul is not easily seen as a cause of unhappiness: but those who fail to attend to the motions of their own soul are necessarily unhappy.

el haber aprendido cómo hay que aceptar los aparentes favores de los amigos, sin dejarse sobornar por ellos ni rechazarlos sin tacto.

And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last

In a little while you too will close your eyes, and soon there will be others mourning the man who buries you.

12. If you do the job in a principled way, with diligence, energy and patience, if you keep yourself free of distractions, and keep the spirit inside you undamaged, as if you might have to give it back at any moment— If you can embrace this without fear or expectation—can find fulfillment in what you're doing now, as Nature intended, and in superhuman truthfulness (every word, every utterance)—then your life will be happy. No one can prevent that.

but that a man may reduce and contract himself almost to the state of a private man, and yet for all that not to become the more base and remiss in those public matters and affairs, wherein power and authority is requisite.

16. The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts. Color it with a run of thoughts like these:

Medita en los principios rectores de otros[260], de qué huyen y qué persiguen.

Willingly therefore, and wholly surrender up thyself unto that fatal concatenation, yielding up thyself unto the fates, to be disposed of at their pleasure.

Use thyself even unto those things that thou doest at first despair of. For the left hand we see, which for the most part lieth idle because not used; yet doth it hold the bridle with more strength than the right, because it hath been used unto it.

Whatever the nature of the whole does, and whatever serves to maintain it, is good for every part of nature. 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.

man following reason in all things combines relaxation with initiative, spark with composure.