Marcus Aurelius Quotes
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As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land; but the fame that comes after is oblivion.
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Art thou angry with him whose arm-pits stink? art thou angry with him whose mouth smells foul? What good will this anger do thee?
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The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself.
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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 helping others. They don't make a fuss about it. They just go on to something else, as the vine looks forward to bearing fruit again in season. We should be like that. Acting almost unconsciously. (Hays translation)
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How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility.
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Art thy not content that thou hast done something conformable to thy nature, and dost thou seek to be paid for it? Just as if the eye demanded recompense for seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these members are formed for a particular purpose... so also is man formed by nature to acts of benevolence.
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He was a man who looked at what ought to be done, not to the reputation which is got by a man's acts
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Use these rules then, and trouble thyself about nothing else.
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Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being, and of that which is incident to it.
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Remember this- that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.
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It is a base thing for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate and compose itself as the mind commands, and for the mind not to be regulated and composed by itself.
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And virtue they will curse, speaking harsh words.
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You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that's all even the gods can ask of you. (Hays translation)
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Depart then satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied.
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Doth perfect beauty stand in need of praise at all? Nay; no more than law, no more than truth, no more than loving kindness, nor than modesty.
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Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life up to the present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed thee.
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That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before.
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Ἐγγὺς μὲν ἡ σὴ περὶ πάντων λήθη, ἐγγὺς δὲ ἡ πάντων περὶ σοῦ λήθη.
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Continuously thou wilt look at human things as smoke and nothing at all; especially if thou reflectest at the same time, that what has once changed will never exist again in the infinite duration of time. But thou, in what a brief space of time is thy existence? And why art thou not content to pass through this short time in an orderly way?
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The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do.
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An arrow has one motion and the mind another. Even when pausing, even when weighing conclusions, the mind is moving forward, toward its goal. (Hays translation)
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If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, says the philosopher.
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If the gods care not for me and for my children, There is a reason for it.
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To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing – here is perfection of character.