Marcus Aurelius Quotes
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All those things at which thou wishest to arrive by a circuitous road, thou canst have now, if thou dost not refuse them to thyself.
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Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action terminating in this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature.
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Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.
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'Let your occupations be few,' says the sage, 'if you would lead a tranquil life.'
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Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life,-there, if one must speak out, the real man.
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The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.
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If...it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine own conceit and opinion concerning the thing: which thou mayest rid thyself of, when thou wilt.
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Death, like generation, is a secret of Nature.
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On the occasion of every act ask thyself, How is this with respect to me? Shall I repent of it? A little time and I am dead, and all is gone.
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Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquility.
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From Antisthenes: It is royal to do good and be abused.
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How many together with whom I came into the world are already gone out of it.
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Prize that which is best in the universe; and this is that which useth everything and ordereth everything.
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Reverence the gods, and help men. Short is life.
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This is a fine saying of Plato: That he who is discoursing about men should look also at earthly things as if he viewed them from some higher place; should look at them... a mixture of all things and an orderly combination of contraries.
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Yet living and dying, honour and dishonour, pain and pleasure, riches and poverty, and so forth are equally the lot of good men and bad. Things like these neither elevate nor degrade; and therefore they are no more good than they are evil.
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Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control.
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Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around.
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Nothing happens to anyone that he can't endure. (Hays translation)
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Think on this doctrine,-that reasoning beings were created for one another's sake; that to be patient is a branch of justice, and that men sin without intending it.
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You may break your heart, but men will still go on as before.
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Very little is needed to make a happy life.
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Every being ought to do that which is according to its constitution; and all other things have been constituted for the sake of the superior, but the rational for the sake of one another.
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Know the joy of life by piling good deed on good deed until no rift or cranny appears between them.