18 verified quotes from 1 work, c. AD 180.
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) was Roman emperor from 161 until his death. His Meditations are private notes to himself, written in Greek, many of them during military campaigns; they were never meant for publication, so the year shown is an approximate date of writing.
The English here is George Long’s translation, first published in 1862, which is why the quotes say “thou” and “thy”. Each line was matched word for word in the full text of that translation on Project Gutenberg.
What “verified” means, and what we leave out: How we verify.
Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.
Our note: Book II opens with this reminder; he goes on to say such people act from ignorance, and he will not be angry with them.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.
Our note: Book IV, on staying steady when things go wrong.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.
Our note: Book VIII, a core Stoic idea: our view of events, not the events, is what hurts.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.
Our note: Book X, a note to himself to stop theorising and act.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like [the wrong-doer].
Our note: Book VI.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
Our note: Book V, on how repeated thoughts shape who we are.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present things.
Our note: Book VII, on not worrying about the future.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.
Our note: Book IV.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil.
Our note: Book IV, quoting the philosopher Democritus.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure
Our note: Book IV.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.
Our note: Book VIII, on accepting correction.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
Our note: Book VII.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present,—I am rising to the work of a human being.
Our note: Book V, the emperor talking himself out of bed.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
…and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation: life is opinion.
Our note: Book IV, on the constant change of all things.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
…very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life.
Our note: Book VII.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
…every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain.
Our note: Book III, on living in the present moment.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Accustom thyself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and as much as it is possible, be in the speaker's mind.
Our note: Book VI, on really listening.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
…where a man can live, there he can also live well.
Our note: Book V; he adds that this is true even in a palace.
Verified in the full text of Meditations on Project Gutenberg · Project Gutenberg ebook #15877 · Collected in The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
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