Aurelius Quotes & Sayings

One whose chief regard is for his own mind, and for the divinity within him and the service of its goodness, will strike no poses, utter no complaints, and crave neither for solitude nor yet for a crowd. Best of all, his life will be free from continual pursuing and avoiding. — Marcus Aurelius

To feel affection for people even when they make mistakes is uniquely human. You can do it, if you simply recognize: that they're human too, that they act out of ignorance, against their will, and that you'll both be dead before long. And, above all, that they haven't really hurt you. They haven't diminished your ability to choose. — Marcus Aurelius

For the entire earth is but a point, and the place of your own habitation but a minute corner in it. ( ... ) Remember then to withdraw into the little field of self. Above all, never struggle or strain; but be master of yourself. — Marcus Aurelius

That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee. — Marcus Aurelius

Now departure from the world of men is nothing to fear, if gods exist: because they would not involve you in any harm. If they do not exist, or if they have no care for humankind, then what is life to me in a world devoid of gods, or devoid of providence? But they do exist, and they do care for humankind: and they have put it absolutely in man's power to avoid falling into the true kinds of harm. — Marcus Aurelius

Does the emerald lose its beauty for lack of admiration? — Marcus Aurelius

Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it. — Marcus Aurelius

There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with. — Marcus Aurelius

Nature insists on whatever benefits the whole. — Marcus Aurelius

Be mindful at all times of the following: the nature of the whole universe, the nature of the part that is me, the relation of the one to the other, the one so vast, the other so small. — Marcus Aurelius

If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt. — Marcus Aurelius

In the end, what would you gain from everlasting remembrance? Absolutely nothing. So what is left worth living for? This alone: justice in thought, goodness in action, speech that cannot deceive, and a disposition glad of whatever comes, welcoming it as necessary, as familiar, as flowing from the same source and fountain as yourself. — Marcus Aurelius

There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his deathbed won't hail the occasion with delight. — Marcus Aurelius

I had always thought, for 'Roman Empire,' I would love to do the death of Marcus Aurelius in the snow. One morning I woke up, and it was really snowing. — Anthony Mann

Don't be irritated at people's smell or bad breath. What's the point? With that mouth, with those armpits, they're going to produce that odor. - But they have a brain! Can't they figure it out? Can't they recognize the problem? So you have a brain as well. Good for you. Then use your logic to awaken his. Show him. Make him realize it. If he'll listen, then you'll have solved the problem. Without anger. — Marcus Aurelius

The soul of a man harms itself, first and foremost, when it becomes (as far as it can) a separate growth, a sort of tumour on the universe; because to resent anything that happens is to separate oneself in revolt from Nature, which holds in collective embrace the particular natures of all other things. — Marcus Aurelius

To no man make yourself a boon companion: Your joy will be less but less will be your grief — Marcus Aurelius

17. To pursue the unattainable is insanity, yet the thoughtless can never refrain from doing so. — Marcus Aurelius

No carelessness in your actions. No confusion in your words. No imprecision in your thoughts. No retreating into your own soul, or trying to escape it. No overactivity. They kill you, cut you with knives, shower you with curses. And that somehow cuts your mind off from clearness, and sanity, and self-control, and justice? A man standing by a spring of clear, sweet water and cursing it. While the fresh water keeps on bubbling up. He can shovel mud into it, or dung, and the stream will carry it away, wash itself clean, remain unstained. To have that. Not a cistern but a perpetual spring. How? By working to win your freedom. Hour by hour. Through patience, honesty, humility. — Marcus Aurelius

They know not how many things are signified by the words stealing, sowing, buying, keeping quiet, seeing what ought to be done; for this is not effected by the eyes, but by another kind of vision. — Marcus Aurelius

In the human life time is but an instant, and the substance of it a flux, and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of certainty. And, to say all in a word, everything that belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after- fame is oblivion. What then can guide a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. — Marcus Aurelius

We should always try to find those things which do not separate us from other people but which unite us. To work against each other, to be angry and turn your back on each other, is to work against nature. - MARCUS AURELIUS — Leo Tolstoy

The man who doesn't know what the universe is doesn't know where he lives. — Marcus Aurelius

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. — Marcus Aurelius

Swiftly the remembrance of all things is buried in the gulf of eternity. — Marcus Aurelius

Can anything that is useful be accomplished without change? — Marcus Aurelius

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

Think of all the years passed by in which you said to yourself "I'll do it tomorrow," and how the gods have again and again granted you periods of grace of which you have not availed yourself. It is time to realize that you are a member of the Universe, that you are born of Nature itself, and to know that a limit has been set to your time. Use every moment wisely, to perceive your inner refulgence, or 'twill be gone and nevermore within your reach. — 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

Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure. — Marcus Aurelius

Think nothing profitable to you which compels you to break a promise, to lose your self respect, to hate any person, to curse, to act the hypocrite. — Marcus Aurelius

Is my understanding sufficient for this or not? If it is sufficient, I use it for the work as an instrument given by the universal nature. But if it is not sufficient, then either I retire from the work and give way to him who is able to do it better, — Marcus Aurelius

Everything is here for a purpose, from horses to vine shoots. What's surprising about that? Even the sun will tell you, "I have a purpose," and the other goods as well. — Marcus Aurelius

No form of nature is inferior to art; for the arts merely imitate natural forms. - Variant: There is no nature which is inferior to art, the arts imitate the nature of things. — Marcus Aurelius

Don't live as though you were going to live a myriad years. Fate is hanging over your head; while you have life, while you may, become good. — Marcus Aurelius

Neither must he use himself to cut off actions only, but thoughts and imaginations also, that are unnecessary for so will unnecessary consequent actions the better be prevented and cut off. — Marcus Aurelius

Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. — Marcus Aurelius

Why dost thou not pray ... to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should not happen or happen? — Marcus Aurelius

Men exist for each other. Then either improve them, or put up with them. — Marcus Aurelius

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury. — Marcus Aurelius

All those [events in history] were such dramas as we see now, only with different actors. — Marcus Aurelius

You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone. — Marcus Aurelius

Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple wavers to the dust. — Marcus Aurelius

Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to raise themselves above one another, and crouch before one another. — Marcus Aurelius

Disgraceful: for the soul to give up when the body is still going strong. — Marcus Aurelius

The mind in itself wants nothing, unless it creates a want for itself; therefore it is both free from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not perturb and impede itself. — Marcus Aurelius

And the things which conduce in any way to the commodity of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant supply, he [my father] used without arrogance and without excusing himself; so that when he had them, he enjoyed them without affectation, and when he had them not, he did not want them. — Marcus Aurelius

When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do towards other humans. — Marcus Aurelius

Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours. — Marcus Aurelius

( ... ) you have grown beyond supposing such actions to be either good or bad, and therefore it will be so much the easier to be tolerant of another's blindness. — Marcus Aurelius

Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things. — Marcus Aurelius

Everything is mere opinion. — Marcus Aurelius

The stone that is thrown into the air is none the worse for falling down, and none the better for going up. — Marcus Aurelius

To her who gives and takes back all, to nature, the man who is instructed and modest says, Give what thou wilt; take back what thou wilt. And he says this not proudly, but obediently and well pleased with her. — Marcus Aurelius

The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others; the man of pleasure in his own sensations; but the man of understanding in his own actions. — Marcus Aurelius

The voice that testifies to truth cannot be stilled. — Aurelius Prudentius Clemens

Outward objects cannot take hold of the soul, nor force their passage into her, nor set any of her wheels going. No, the impression comes from herself, and it is her own motions which affect her. As for the contingencies of fortune, they are either great or little, according to the opinion she has of her own strength. — Marcus Aurelius

Stop drifting. You're not going to re-read your Brief Comments, your Deeds of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, the commonplace books you saved for your old age. Sprint for the finish. Write off your hopes, and if your well-being matters to you, be your own savior while you can. — Marcus Aurelius

No state sorrier than that of the man who keeps up a continual round, and pries into "the secrets of the nether world," as saith the poet, and is curious in conjecture of what is in his
neighbour's heart. — Marcus Aurelius

No one wearies of benefits received. — Marcus Aurelius

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ... — Marcus Aurelius

Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation. — Marcus Aurelius

The universe is change, and life mere opinion — Marcus Aurelius

Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whoever does injustice, does it to himself, making himself evil. — Marcus Aurelius

People find pressure in different ways. I find it in keeping my mind clear. In not turning away from people or the things that happen to them. In accepting and welcoming everything I see. In treating each thing as it deserves. — Marcus Aurelius

What is this, fundamentally? What is its nature and substance, its reason for being? What is it doing in the world? How long is it here for? — Marcus Aurelius

Spend not the remnant of thy days in thoughts and fancies concerning other men, when it is not in relation to some common good, when by it thou art hindered from some other better work. — Marcus Aurelius

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. — Marcus Aurelius

The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts. — Marcus Aurelius

If something is difficult for you to accomplish, do not then think it impossible for any human being; rather, if it is humanly possible and corresponds to human nature, know that it is attainable by you as well. — Marcus Aurelius

Be content to seem what you really are. — Marcus Aurelius

Nothing befalls a man except what is in his nature to endure. — Marcus Aurelius

From Rusticus . . . I learned to read carefully and not be satisfied with a rough understanding of the whole, and not to agree too quickly with those who have a lot to say about something." - MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 1.7.3 — Ryan Holiday

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

Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought. — Marcus Aurelius

He is a true fugitive who flies from reason. — Marcus Aurelius

Nature which governs the whole will soon change all things which you see, and out of their substance will make other things and again other things ... in order that the world may be ever new. — 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

Love the art, poor as it may be, that you have learned, and be content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has entrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has, making yourself neither the tyrant nor the slave of any man. — Marcus Aurelius

Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind. Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived. — Marcus Aurelius

If souls survive death for all eternity, how can the heavens hold them all? Or for that matter, how can the earth hold all the bodies that have been buried in it? The answers are the same. Just as on earth, with the passage of time, decaying and transmogrified corpses make way for the newly dead, so souls released into the heavens, after a season of flight, begin to break up, burn, and be absorbed back into the womb of reason, leaving room for souls just beginning to fly. This is the answer for those who believe that souls survive death. — Marcus Aurelius

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

Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them. — Marcus Aurelius

Do unsavory armpits and bad breath make you angry? — Marcus Aurelius

When we consider we are bound to be serviceable to mankind, and bear with their faults, we shall perceive there is a common tie of nature and relation between us. — Marcus Aurelius

Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds. — 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 first step: Don't be anxious. Nature controls it all. And before long you'll be no one, nowhere - like Hadrian, like Augustus. The second step: Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy. — Marcus Aurelius

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

Look to nothing, not even for a moment except to reason. — 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 in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of being, the easier it is to discern a connection even among things separated by vast distances. — Marcus Aurelius

Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one. — Marcus Aurelius

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

Stupidity is expecting figs in winter, or children in old age. — Marcus Aurelius

Receive the gifts of fortune without pride, and part with them without reluctance. — Marcus Aurelius

Never wilt your soul, never be just good, simple or unpolished. Manifest more then the body that surrounds yourself. — Marcus Aurelius

Enter their minds, and you'll find the judges you're so afraid of - and how judiciously they judge themselves. — Marcus Aurelius

Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish. — Marcus Aurelius

Anger and the sorrow it produces are far more harmful than the things which make us angry. — Marcus Aurelius