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
order years should
Thou mayest foresee... the things which will be. For they will certainly be of like form, and it is not possible that they should deviate from the order of things now: accordingly to have contemplated human life for forty years is the same as to have contemplated it for ten thousand years.
men unnecessary should
A man should remove not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for then superfluous activity will not follow.
should happens
Everything that happens, happens as it should.
may should
You should banish any thoughts of how you may appear to others.
good-person should ends
Put an end once and for all to this discussion of what a good person should be, and be one.
men evil should
Why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which is according to nature.
world should feels
Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?
wise men should
The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.
done purpose should
Without a purpose, nothing should be done.
drinks mistake morning next till
It is a mistake to think that Acerra reeks of yesterday's liquor: Acerra always drinks till next morning
earth lightly rest thee
Rest lightly on her earth, for she trod never heavily on thee
act dignity life observed performance proper proportion remember
Remember this, - that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life
life lives loses man nor remember
Remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses
challenged magnitude
I think if we had the same magnitude of devastation that they had, we would be very much challenged as well,