MARCUS AURELIUS -- 20 quotes from MEDITATIONS.
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Death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble nor shameful—and hence neither good nor bad. -Marcus Aurelius
(All are signed, so feel free to share one or more.)
Death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble nor shameful—and hence neither good nor bad. -Marcus Aurelius
What is divine deserves our respect because it is good; what is human
deserves our affection because it is like us. - 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. -Marcus Aurelius
The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don't. -Marcus Aurelius
If it doesn’t hurt the individual elements to change continually into one another, why are people afraid of all of them changing and separating? It’s a natural thing. And nothing natural is evil. -Marcus Aurelius
Concentrate on this, your whole life long: for your mind to be in the right state—the state a rational, civic mind should be in. - Marcus Aurelius
Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. -Marcus Aurelius
Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too—ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. - Marcus Aurelius
Is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands. -Marcus Aurelius
Things have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions. - Marcus Aurelius
Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able—be good. - Marcus Aurelius
And then you might see what the life of the good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself. -Marcus Aurelius
Note: If you're enjoying these quotes so far, then you should definitely check out The Meditations, which is where these quotes are pulled from.
When we describe things as “taking place,” we’re talking like builders, who say that blocks in a wall or a pyramid “take their place” in the structure, and fit together in a harmonious pattern. - Marcus Aurelius
If we limited “good” and “bad” to our own actions, we’d have no call to challenge God, or to treat other people as enemies. - Marcus Aurelius
To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up without complaint. Like an olive that ripens and falls. Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on. -Marcus Aurelius
The whole is damaged if you cut away anything—anything at all—from its continuity and its coherence. Not only its parts, but its purposes. And that’s what you’re doing when you complain: hacking and destroying. -Marcus Aurelius
“To live with the gods.” And to do that is to show them that your soul accepts what it is given and does what the spirit requires—the spirit God gave each of us to lead and guide us, a fragment of himself. -Marcus Aurelius
Awaken; return to yourself. Now, no longer asleep, knowing they were only dreams, clear-headed again, treat everything around you as a dream. -Marcus Aurelius
It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it. -Marcus Aurelius
To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it. -Marcus Aurelius
Take the shortest route, the one that nature planned—to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculation and pretension. -Marcus Aurelius
How does it injure you anyway? You’ll find that none of the people you’re upset about has done anything that could do damage to your mind. But that’s all that “harm” or “injury” could mean. -Marcus Aurelius
It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet. -Marcus Aurelius
If it isn’t ceasing to live that you’re afraid of but never beginning to live properly . . . then you’ll be worthy of the world that made you. No longer an alien in your own land. No longer shocked by everyday events—as if they were unheard-of aberrations. -Marcus Aurelius
Because to be drawn toward what is wrong and self-indulgent, toward anger and fear and pain, is to revolt against nature. And for the mind to complain about anything that happens is to desert its post. -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. -Marcus Aurelius
The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don't. -Marcus Aurelius
If it doesn’t hurt the individual elements to change continually into one another, why are people afraid of all of them changing and separating? It’s a natural thing. And nothing natural is evil. -Marcus Aurelius
Concentrate on this, your whole life long: for your mind to be in the right state—the state a rational, civic mind should be in. - Marcus Aurelius
Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. -Marcus Aurelius
Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too—ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. - Marcus Aurelius
Is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands. -Marcus Aurelius
Things have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions. - Marcus Aurelius
Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able—be good. - Marcus Aurelius
And then you might see what the life of the good man is like—someone content with what nature assigns him, and satisfied with being just and kind himself. -Marcus Aurelius
Note: If you're enjoying these quotes so far, then you should definitely check out The Meditations, which is where these quotes are pulled from.
When we describe things as “taking place,” we’re talking like builders, who say that blocks in a wall or a pyramid “take their place” in the structure, and fit together in a harmonious pattern. - Marcus Aurelius
If we limited “good” and “bad” to our own actions, we’d have no call to challenge God, or to treat other people as enemies. - Marcus Aurelius
To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it up without complaint. Like an olive that ripens and falls. Praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on. -Marcus Aurelius
The whole is damaged if you cut away anything—anything at all—from its continuity and its coherence. Not only its parts, but its purposes. And that’s what you’re doing when you complain: hacking and destroying. -Marcus Aurelius
“To live with the gods.” And to do that is to show them that your soul accepts what it is given and does what the spirit requires—the spirit God gave each of us to lead and guide us, a fragment of himself. -Marcus Aurelius
Awaken; return to yourself. Now, no longer asleep, knowing they were only dreams, clear-headed again, treat everything around you as a dream. -Marcus Aurelius
It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it. -Marcus Aurelius
To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it. -Marcus Aurelius
Take the shortest route, the one that nature planned—to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculation and pretension. -Marcus Aurelius
How does it injure you anyway? You’ll find that none of the people you’re upset about has done anything that could do damage to your mind. But that’s all that “harm” or “injury” could mean. -Marcus Aurelius
It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet. -Marcus Aurelius
If it isn’t ceasing to live that you’re afraid of but never beginning to live properly . . . then you’ll be worthy of the world that made you. No longer an alien in your own land. No longer shocked by everyday events—as if they were unheard-of aberrations. -Marcus Aurelius
Because to be drawn toward what is wrong and self-indulgent, toward anger and fear and pain, is to revolt against nature. And for the mind to complain about anything that happens is to desert its post. -Marcus Aurelius
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