M 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

It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change. 43. — 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

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

I'm going to be meeting with people today who talk too much - people who are selfish, egotistical, ungrateful. But I won't be surprised or disturbed, for I can't imagine a world without such people. — Marcus Aurelius

Nature insists on whatever benefits the whole. — Marcus Aurelius

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

It's the truth I'm after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance. — 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

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

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

I especially love watching Marcus Aurelius fighting his perfectionism in order to get back to work on his writing, regardless of the results. "Get a move on," he writes to himself, "and don't worry whether anyone will give you credit for it. And don't go expecting Plato's 'Republic;' be satisfied with even the smallest progress, and treat the outcome of it all as unimportant." Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds it endearing and encouraging that a legendary Roman philosopher had to reassure himself that it's okay not to be Plato. Really, Marcus, it's okay! Just keep working. — Elizabeth Gilbert

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

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

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

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

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

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

A man's duty is like his shadow. He may cast his eyes away from it, yet it follows him even as he flees it - Marcus Aurelius Antoninus — T.M. Bown

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

Some people, when they do someone a favor, are always looking for a chance to call it in. And some aren't, but they're still aware of it - still regard it as a debt. But others don't even do that. They're like a vine that produces grapes without looking for anything in return . . . after helping others . . . They just go on to something else . . . We should be like that. - Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor A — Adam M. Grant

For times when you feel pain:
See that it doesn't disgrace you, or degrade your
intelligence - doesn't keep it from acting rationally or
unselfishly.
And in most cases what Epicurus said should help: that
pain is neither unbearable nor unending, as long as you keep
in mind its limits and don't magnify them in your imagination.
And keep in mind too that pain often comes in disguise
as drowsiness, fever, loss of appetite ... When you're
bothered by things like that, remind yourself: I'm giving in
to pain. — Marcus Aurelius

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

I think it's good to know more than the average guy. If I'm in a bar now and some pretty girl is talking to some handsome 24-year-old man, I'll say, "Okay, who's the emperor after Caligula? What chief mistake did Marcus Aurelius make in choosing a successor?" He'll just look like an idiot. She'll just gravitate toward me, I'm thinking. It works in Detroit. — Emo Philips

The despicable phoniness of people who say, "Listen, I'm going to level with you here." What does that mean? It shouldn't even need to be said. It should be obvious - written in block letters on your forehead. It should be audible in your voice, visible in your eyes, like a lover who looks into your face and takes in the whole story at a glance. A straightforward, honest person should be like someone who stinks: when you're in the same room with him, you know it. But false straightforwardness is like a knife in the back. — 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be content to seem what you really are. — 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

No one wearies of benefits received. — 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

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

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

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