A To Z Book Review: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (trans. George Long)

My letter “M” pick for the A to Z Book Challenge was MEDITATIONS by Marcus Aurelius, translated by George Long. This was a free audiobook with my Audible membership, and since I vowed to put a variety of genres into my list this year, it was an easy pick.

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD (actually a co-emperor, along with his adopted brother), and a lifelong philosopher. He credits many of his teachers in his works and expounds upon their virtues in great detail, describing every bit of himself that he owes in some part to them.

It’s easy to just delve into this as a self-help book, full of wise musings and existential introspection, but when you realize his works were more of a diary, or “note to self” sort of account and not meant to be published and inspiring the masses, the words become a much more personal study of what this man learned from life, what made it worth living to him, and what he still struggles to find in his experience.

George Long got some flack on this translation, as it was greatly pared down and more of a sampling of Aurelius’s work rather than a full study or compendium. I felt it was a good introduction to someone vaguely familiar with Aurelius, and definitely left me with an interest in delving deeper into his work. All in all, a solid, if occasionally dry read. I give this three stars, and I’ll leave you with a few favorite quotes.

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”