Marcus Aurelius Quotes

A key point to bear in mind: The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to its object. You're better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve. ~ Marcus Aurelius

For the nearer everything is unto unpassionateness, the nearer it is unto power. And as grief doth proceed from weakness, so doth anger. For both, both he that is angry and grieveth, have received a wound, and cowardly have as it were yielded themselves unto their affections... For it was ordained unto holiness and godliness, which specially consist in an humble submission to God and His providence in all things; as well as unto justice: these also being part of those duties, which as naturally sociable, we are bound unto; and with without which we cannot happily converse one with another: yea and the very ground and fountain indeed of all just actions. ~ Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

My being consists of matter and form, that is, of soul and body; annihilation will reach neither of them, for they were never produced out of nothing. The consequence is, that every part of me will serve to make something in the world; and this again will change into another part through an infinite succession of change. This constant method of alteration gave me my being, and my father before me, and so on to eternity backward: for I think I may speak thus, even though the world be confined within certain determinate periods. ~ Marcus Aurelius

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. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Remind oneself continually of one of those who practiced virtue in days gone by. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Cinna wishes to seem poor, and is poor ~ Marcus Aurelius

I have to create a circle of reading for myself: Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lao-Tzu, Buddha, Pascal, The New Testament. This is also necessary for all people. ~ Leo Tolstoy

Let no act be done without purpose. ~ Marcus Aurelius

If unwilling to rise in the morning, say to thyself, 'I awake to do the work of a man. ~ Marcus Aurelius

That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you. ~ Marcus Aurelius

They despise one another, yet they flatter one another;they sant to get above another and get they bow down to one another. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Whenever you want to cheer yourself up, consider the good qualities of your companions, for example, the energy of one, the modesty of another, the generosity of yet another, and some other quality of another; for nothing cheers the heart as much as the images of excellence reflected in the character of our companions, all brought before us as fully as possible. Therefore, keep these images ready at hand. ~ Marcus Aurelius

As for others whose lives are not so ordered, he reminds himself constantly of the characters they exhibit daily and nightly at home and abroad, and of the sort of society they frequent; and the approval of such men, who do not even stand well in their own eyes, has no value for him. ~ Marcus Aurelius

And to have learned how to accept favors from friends without losing your self-respect or appearing ungrateful. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Life is opinion. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Everything that happens, happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Do you see what little is required of a man to live a well-tempered and god-fearing life? Obey these precepts, and the gods will ask nothing more. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Keep reminding yourself of the way things are connected, of great relatedness. All things are implicated in one another and in sympathy with each other. This event is the consequence of some other one. Things push and pull on each other, and breathe together, and are ONE. ~ Marcus Aurelius

External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now. If the problem is something in your own character, who's stopping you from setting your mind straight? And if it's that you're not doing something you think you should be, why not just do it? - But there are insuperable obstacles. Then it's not a problem. The cause of your inaction lies outside you. - But how can I go on living with that undone? Then depart, with a good conscience, as if you'd done it, embracing the obstacles too. ~ Marcus Aurelius

How can a man find a sensible way to live? One way and one only- Philosophy. And my philosophy means keeping that vital spark within you free from damage and degradation, using it to transcend pain and pleasure, doing everything with a purpose, avoiding lies and hypocrisy, not relying on another person's actions or failings. To accept everything that comes, and everything that is given, as coming from that same spiritual source. ~ Marcus Aurelius

What springs from earth dissolves to earth again, and heaven-born things fly to their native seat. ~ Marcus Aurelius

My soul, will you ever be good, simple, individual, bare, brighter than the body covers you? Will you ever taste the disposition to love and affection? Will you ever be complete and free of need, missing nothing, desiring nothing live or lifeless for the enjoyment of pleasure? ~ Marcus Aurelius

Beautiful things of any kind are beautiful in themselves and sufficient to themselves. Praise is extraneous. The object of praise remains what it was - no better and no worse. ~ Marcus Aurelius

No one can keep you from living as your nature requires. Nothings can happen to you that is not required by Nature. ~ Marcus Aurelius

BEGIN the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. ~ Marcus Aurelius

A human being has close kinship with the whole human race -- not a bond of blood or seed, but a community of mind. And you have forgotten this too, that every man's mind is a god and has flowed from that source; that nothing is our own property, but even our child, our body, our very soul have come from that source; that all is as thinking makes it so; that each of us lives only the present moment, and the present moment is all we lose. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Be not unwilling in what thou doest, neither selfish nor unadvised nor obstinate; let not over-refinement deck out thy thought; be not wordy nor a busybody. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Do not be ashamed of help. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to another. Divide and distribute every object into the causal (formal) and the material. Think of thy last hour. Let the wrong which is done by a man stay there where the wrong was done. Direct ~ Marcus Aurelius

Men exist for the sake of one another. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Your task is to stand straight; not to be held straight. ~ Marcus Aurelius

It is a bitter thought, how different a thing the Christianity of the world might have been, if the Christian faith had been adopted as the religion of the empire under the auspices of Marcus Aurelius instead of those of Constantine. ~ John Stuart Mill

God overrules all mutinous accidents, brings them under His laws of fate, and makes them all serviceable to His purpose. ~ Marcus Aurelius

What am I but a little flesh, a little breath, and the thinking part that rules the whole? ~ Marcus Aurelius

In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, his fame doubtful. In short, all that is body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors. ~ Marcus Aurelius

There is but one thing of real value - to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The controlling Intelligence understands its own nature, and what it does, and whereon it works. ~ Marcus Aurelius

God give me patience, to reconcile with what I am not able to change
Give me strength to change what I can
And give me wisdom to distinguish one from another. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Even if you're going to live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember: you cannot lose another life than the one you're living now, or live another one than the one you're losing. The longest amounts to the same as the shortest. The present is the same for everyone; its loss is the same for everyone; and it should be clear that a brief instant is all that is lost. For you can't lose either the past or the future; how could you lose what you don't have? ~ Marcus Aurelius

Some things are hurrying into existence and others are hurrying out of it and of that which is coming into existence, part is already extinguished. In this flowing stream then, on which there is no abiding, what is there of things which hurry on by on which a man would set a high price. It would be just as if a man should fall in love with one of the sparrows which fly by but has already passed out of sight. ~ Marcus Aurelius

In a little while you will have forgotten everything; in a little while everything will have forgotten you. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Regain your senses, call yourself back, and once again wake up. Now that you realize that only dreams were troubling you, view this 'reality' as you view your dreams. ~ Marcus Aurelius

They contemn one another, and yet they seek to please one another: and whilest they seek to surpass one another in worldly pomp and greatness, they most debase and prostitute themselves in their better part one to another. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Do not expect Plato's ideal republic; be satisfied with even the smallest step forward, and consider this no small achievement. ~ Marcus Aurelius

As for literature, thefts cannot harm it, while the lapse of ages augments its value ~ Marcus Aurelius

"Sweep me up and send me where you please." For there I will retain my spirit, tranquil and content, as long as it can feel and act in harmony with its own nature. Is a change of place enough reason for my soul to become unhappy and worn, for me to become depressed, humbled, cowering, and afraid? Can you discover any reasons for this? ~ Marcus Aurelius

What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee. ~ Marcus Aurelius

All that comes to pass is as familiar and well known as the rose in spring, and the grape in summer. Of like fashion are sickness, death, calumny, intrigue, and all that gladdens or saddens the foolish. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not "This is misfortune," but "To bear this worthily is good fortune. ~ Marcus Aurelius

It is the duty of men to love even those who injure them. ~ Marcus Aurelius

It's normal to feel pain in your hands and feet, if you're using your feet as feet and your hands as hands. And for a human being to feel stress is normal - if he's living a normal life. And if it's normal, how can it be bad? ~ Marcus Aurelius

Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in pieces, curse thee, what can these things do to prevent thy mind from remaining pure, wise, sober, just? ~ Marcus Aurelius

The best sort of revenue is not to be like him who did the injury. ~ Marcus Aurelius

General, and a scarcity of individual healers. It was the doctrine of Marcus Aurelius that most of the ills of life come to us from our own imagination, that it was not in the power of others seriously to interfere with the calm, temperate life of an individual, and that when a fellow being did anything to us that seemed unjust he was acting in ignorance, and that instead of stirring up anger within us it should stir our pity for him. Oftentimes by careful self-examination we should find that the fault was more our own than that of our fellow, and our sufferings were rather from our own opinions than from anything ~ Marcus Aurelius

Let thine occupations be few, saith the sage, if thou wouldst lead a tranquil life. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Today I escaped all circumstance, or rather I cast out all circumstance, for it was not outside me, but within my judgements. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Live not one's life as though one had a thousand years, but live each day as the last. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Even while a thing is in the act of coming into existence, some part of it has already ceased to be. ~ Marcus Aurelius

If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don't imagine it impossible - for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you. ~ Marcus Aurelius

You can discard most of the junk that clutters your mind - things that exist only there - and clear out space for yourself: ... by comprehending the scale of the world ... by contemplating infinite time ... by thinking of the speed with which things change - each part of every thing; the narrow space between our birth and death; the infinite time before; the equally unbounded time that follows. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig. ~ Marcus Aurelius

I have no right to do myself an injury. Have I ever injured anyone else if I could avoid it? ~ Marcus Aurelius

Of my grandfather Verus I have learned to be gentle and meek, and to refrain from all anger and passion. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The offender needs pity, not wrath; those who must needs be corrected, should be treated with tact and gentleness; and one must be always ready to learn better. 'The best kind of revenge is, not to become like unto them.' ~ Marcus Aurelius

Either pain affects the body (which is the body's problem) or it affects the soul. But the soul can choose not to be affected, preserving its own serenity, its own tranquillity. All our decisions, urges, desires, aversions lie within. No evil can touch them. ~ Marcus Aurelius

You are making an inopportune rejection of what Nature has given you today, if all your mind is set on what men will say of you tomorrow. ~ Marcus Aurelius

How very near us stand the two vast gulfs of time, the past and the future, in which all things disappear. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The true joy of humankind is in doing that which is most proper to our nature; and the first property of people is to be kindly affected towards them that are of one kind with ourselves. ~ Marcus Aurelius

In the same degree in which a man's mind is nearer to freedom from all passion, in the same degree also is it nearer to strength. ~ Marcus Aurelius

And finally remember that nothing harms him who is really a citizen, which does not harm the state; nor yet does anything harm the state which does not harm law [order]; and of these things which are called misfortunes not one harms law. What then does not harm law does not harm either state or citizen. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything! ~ Marcus Aurelius

Remember how long you've been putting this off, how many extensions the gods gave you, and you didn't use them. At some point you have to recognize what world it is that you belong to; what power rules it and from what source you spring; that there is a limit to the time assigned to you, and if you don't use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Human society is a single organism, like an individual human body or a tree. But ~ Marcus Aurelius

We must make haste then, not only because we are daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and the understanding of them cease first. ~ Marcus Aurelius

No difference between here and there: the city that you live in is the world. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Indeed, the application of the adjective "stoic" to a person who shows strength and courage in misfortune probably owes more to the aristocratic Roman value system than it does to Greek philosophers. Stoicism ~ Marcus Aurelius

Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds. ~ Marcus Aurelius

You are a little soul carrying about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say. ~ Marcus Aurelius

To be free of passion and yet full of love. ~ Marcus Aurelius

I seek the truth ... it is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance that does harm. ~ Marcus Aurelius

It isn't ceasing to live that [I'm] afraid of but never beginning to live properly. ~ Marcus Aurelius

He who has seen the present has seen everything, that which happened in the most distant past and that which will happen in the future. ~ Marcus Aurelius

You are a spirit, bearing the weight of a dead body, as Epictetus used to say. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Death is a cessation of the impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the strings that move the appetites, and of the discursive movements of the thoughts, and of the service to the flesh. ~ Marcus Aurelius

If you're disciplining yourself to constantly be at the intersection of many divergent streams of intellectual influence, it's like creating a check and balance set of forces for yourself. You don't need to make independence of thought an act of willpower. You don't need to be like a Marcus Aurelius sort of strong willed high virtue type of person in order to have an independent mind; you have an independent mind my listening to many different people constantly. ~ Venkatesh Rao

There are certain men who are sacrosanct in history; you touch on the truth of them at your peril. These are such men as Socrates and Plato, Pericles and Alexander, Caesar and Augustus, Marcus Aurelius and Trajan, Martel and Charlemagne, Edward the Confessor and William of Falaise, St. Louis and Richard and Tancred, Erasmus and Bacon, Galileo and Newton, Voltaire and Rousseau, Harvey and Darwin, Nelson and Wellington. In America, Penn and Franklin, Jefferson and Jackson and Lee. There are men better than these who are not sacrosanct, who may be challenged freely. But these men may not be. Albert Pike has been elevated to this sacrosanct company, though of course to a minor rank. To challenge his rank is to be overwhelmed by a torrent of abuse, and we challenge him completely.

Looks are important to these elevated. Albert Pike looked like Michelangelo's Moses in contrived frontier costume. Who could distrust that big man with the great beard and flowing hair and godly glance?
If you dislike the man and the type, then he was pompous, empty, provincial and temporal, dishonest, and murderous. But if you like the man and the type, then he was impressive, untrammeled, a man of the right place and moment, flexible or sophisticated, and firm.
These are the two sides of the same handful of coins.
He stole (diverted) Indian funds and used them to bribe doubtful Indian leaders. He ordered massacres of women and children (exemplary punitive operations). He lied ~ R.A. Lafferty

Do not disturb yourself by thinking of the whole of your life. Do not let your thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles that you may expect to befall you: but on every occasion ask yourself, What is there in this that is intolerable and past bearing? For you will be ashamed to confess. In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains you, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if you only circumscribe it and chide your mind, if it is unable to hold out against even this. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, I wish for green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; and if it is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Cultivate these, then, for they are wholly within your power: sincerity and dignity; industriousness; and sobriety. Avoid grumbling, be frugal, considerate, and frank; be temperate in manner and speech; carry yourself with authority. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Let the part of your soul that leads and governs be undisturbed by the movements in the flesh, whether of pleasure or of pain; and let it not unite with them, but let it circumscribe itself and limit those affects to their parts. But when these affects rise up to the mind by virtue of that other sympathy that naturally exists in a body that is all one, then you must not strive to resist the sensation, for it is natural: but do not let the ruling part of itself add to the sensation the opinion that it is either good or bad. ~ Marcus Aurelius

We are born for cooperation ~ Marcus Aurelius

Spend your brief moment according to nature's law, and serenely greet the journey's end as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bare it, and giving thanks to the tree that gave it life. ~ Marcus Aurelius

The willing are led by fate, the reluctant are dragged. ~ Cleanthes Of Assos

If you set yourself to your present task along the path of true reason, with all determination, vigour,and good will: if you admit no distraction, but keep your own divinity pure and standing strong, as if you had to surrender it right now; if you grapple this to you, expecting nothing, shirking nothing, but self-content with each present action taken in accordance with nature and a heroic truthfulness in all that you say and mean - then you will lead a good life. And nobody is able to stop you. ~ Marcus Aurelius

25. Try how the life of the good man suits thee, the life of him who is satisfied with his portion out of the whole, and satisfied with his own just acts and benevolent disposition. ~ Marcus Aurelius