Marcus Aurelius

Quotes

• “The universal nature has no external space; but the wondrous part of her art is that though she has circumscribed hersel...”
• “For a man can lose neither the past nor the future; for how can one take from him that which is not his? So remember the...”
• “The mind is the ruler of the soul. It should remain unstirred by agitations of the flesh--gentle and violent ones alike....”
• “Suppose that thou hast detached thyself from the natural unity... yet here there is this beautiful provision, that it is...”
• “An angry countenance is much against nature, and it is oftentimes the proper countenance of them that are at the point o...”
• “Why then dost thou choose to act in the same way? and why dost thou not leave these agitations which are foreign to natu...”
• “Don't let yourself forget how many doctors have died, after furrowing their brows over how many deathbeds. How many astr...”
• “What matter and opportunity [for thy activity] art thou avoiding? For what else are all these things, except exercises f...”
• “Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is ...”
• “Either all things proceed from one intelligent source and come together as in one body, and the part ought not to find f...”
• “Take heed not to be transformed into a Caesar, not to be dipped in the purple dye, for it does happen. Keep yourself the...”
• “As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all the powers that it has, so we have received from it...”
• “When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dis...”
• “He who does not know what the world is, does not know where he is. And he who does not know for what purpose the world e...”
• “Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around! Why are you troubled? What's new here? What's so confound...”
• “By remembering then that I am a part of such a whole, I shall be content with everything that happens. And inasmuch as I...”
• “The other reason is that what happens to the individual is a cause of well-being in what directs the world--of its well-...”
• “As thou thyself art a component part of a social system, so let every act of thine be a component part of social life. W...”
• “Whensoever by some present hard occurrences thou art constrained to be in some sort troubled and vexed, return unto thys...”
• “Don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It's been reported to you that someone is sp...”
• “He who flies from his master is a runaway; but the law is master, and he who breaks the law is a runaway. And he also wh...”
• “Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have r...”
• “Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast: but of the things which thou hast, select the best, and th...”
• “One man prays thus: How shall I be able to lie with that woman? Do thou pray thus: How shall I not desire to lie with he...”
• “Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such...”
• “Keep this thought handy when you feel a bit of rage coming on - it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civ...”
• “Hasten [to examine] thy own ruling faculty and that of the universe and that of thy neighbor: thy own, that thy may make...”
• “Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion... I have learne...”
• “What if someone despises me? Let me see to it. But I will see to it that I won't be found doing or saying anything conte...”
• “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcom...”
• “In contemplating thyself never include the vessel which surrounds thee, and these instruments which are attached about i...”
• “A person who doesn't know what the universe is doesn't know who they are. A person who doesn't know their purpose in lif...”
• “If mind is common to us, then also the reason, whereby we are reasoning beings, is common. If this be so, then also the ...”
• “No longer let thy breathing only act in concert with the air which surrounds thee, but let thy intelligence also now be ...”
• “All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any othe...”
• “Continuously thou wilt look at human things as smoke and nothing at all; especially if thou reflectest at the same time,...”
• “Stir up thy mind, and recall thy wits again from thy natural dreams, and visions, and when thou art perfectly awoken, an...”
• “Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around...”
• “Rememberest the gods, and that they wish not to be flattered, but wish all reasonable beings to be made like themselves;...”
• “A horse at the end of the race...A dog when the hunt is over...A bee with its honey stored...And a human being after hel...”
• “When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in what manner thou doest error thyself...”
• “Let this always be plain to thee, that this piece of land is like any other; and that all things here are the same with ...”
• “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 ha...”
• “For thus it is, men of Athens, in truth: wherever a man has placed himself thinking it is the best place for him, or has...”
• “The universal intelligence puts itself in motion for every separate effect... or it puts itself in motion once, and ever...”
• “Of things that are external, happen what will to that which can suffer by external accidents. Those things that suffer l...”
• “Marcus Aurelius wrote the following about Severus (a person who is not clearly identifiable according to the footnote): ...”
• “Does anything genuinely beautiful need supplementing? No more than justice does-or truth, or kindness, or humility. Are ...”
• “Remember, that to change thy mind upon occasion, and to follow him that is able to rectify thee, is equally ingenuous, a...”
• “Consider all that you've gone through, all that you've survived. And that the story of your life is done, your assignmen...”