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
men
Men exist for each other. Then either improve them, or put up with them.
men privilege imagine
How barbarous, to deny men the privilege of pursuing what they imagine to be their proper concerns and interests! Yet, in a sense, this is just what you are doing when you allow your indignation to rise at their wrongdoing; for after all, they are only following their own apparent concerns and interests. You say they are mistaken? Why then, tell them so, and explain it to them, instead of being indignant.
wise men principles
Search men's governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to.
men peculiar duty
It is man's peculiar duty to love even those who wrong him.
arrogance let-it-go wealth
Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.
self fire different
As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.
freedom bees honey-bee
What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.
home men house
The man who has a house everywhere has a home nowhere
dog light crumbling
Light may earth's crumbling sand be laid on thee, that dogs may dig thy bones up easily
ashes too-late glory
Glory arrives too late when it comes only to one's ashes
character perfection lasts
To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing - here is the perfection of character.
silly people trying
It's silly to try to escape other people's faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.
judging looks philosopher
If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, says the philosopher.
reality evil fear-of-death
He who fears death either fears to lose all sensation or fears new sensations. In reality, you will either feel nothing at all, and therefore nothing evil, or else, if you can feel any sensations, you will be a new creature, and so will not have ceased to have life.