Meditations

by Marcus Aurelius

Thou hast not leisure [or ability] to read. But thou hast leisure [or ability] to check arrogance: thou hast leisure to be superior to pleasure and pain: thou hast leisure to be superior to love of fame, and not to be vexed at stupid. and ungrateful people, nay even to care for them.

But no such man would ever repent of having refused any sensual pleasure. Pleasure then is neither good nor useful.

Thou must blame nobody. For if thou canst, correct [that which is the cause]; but if thou canst not do this, correct at least the thing itself; but if thou canst not do even this, of what use is it to thee to find fault? for nothing should be done without a purpose.

Short lived are both the praiser and the praised, and the rememberer and the remembered: and all this in a nook of this part of the world; and not even here do all agree, no, not any one with himself: and the whole earth too is a point.

Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather to become good to-morrow than to be good to-day.

Now it is a proper work of a man to be benevolent to his own kind, to despise the movements of the senses, to form a just judgment of plausible appearances, and to take a survey of the nature of the universe and of the things which happen in it.

but it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquillity, and not to think that pain is an evil. For every judgment and movement and desire and aversion is within, and no evil ascends so high.

Now it is in my power to let no badness be in this soul, nor desire, nor any perturbation at all; but looking at all things I see what is their nature, and I use each according to its value.—Remember this power which thou hast from nature.

Speak both in the senate and to every man, whoever he may be, appropriately, n...

Nothing will stand in the way of thy acting justly and soberly and considerately.—But

Your responsibility is to live rightly in each moment, in everything you do. If every action you take is done as well as it can be, then be satisfied. No one can stop you from acting with justice, self-control, and thoughtfulness. You might say, “But something outside of me might block my plans.” True—but nothing can stop you from doing what’s right in response. And if one action is blocked, accept it calmly and shift your energy to what you can do. A new opportunity for meaningful action will always present itself if you stay aligned with your principles.

Receive [wealth or prosperity] without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.

Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect to befall thee: but on every occasion ask thyself, What is there in this which is intolerable and past bearing? for thou wilt be ashamed to confess. In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present. But this is reduced to a very little, if thou only circumscribest it, and chidest thy mind if it is unable to hold out against even this.

In the constitution of the rational animal I see no virtue which is opposed to justice; but I see a virtue which is opposed to love of pleasure, and that is temperance.

Different things delight different people; but it is my delight to keep the ruling faculty sound without turning away either from any man or from any of the things which happen to men, but looking at and receiving all with welcome eyes and using everything according to its value.

And what is it in any way to thee if these men of after time utter this or that sound, or have this or that opinion about thee?

If then there happens to each thing both what is usual and natural, why shouldst thou complain? For the common nature brings nothing which may not be borne by thee.

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. But if anything in thy own disposition gives thee pain, who hinders thee from correcting thy opinion? And even if thou art pained because thou art not doing some particular thing which seems to thee to be right, why dost thou not rather act than complain?—But

But some insuperable obstacle is in the way?—Do not be grieved then, for the cause of its not being ...

Thus then always abide by the first appearances, and add nothing thyself from within, and then nothing happens to thee.

if a man should stand by a limpid pure spring, and curse it, the spring never ceases sending up potable water; and if he should cast clay into it or filth, it will speedily disperse them and wash them out, and will not be at all polluted.

What then dost thou think of him who [avoids or] seeks the praise of those who applaud, of men who know not either where they are or who they are?

Dost thou wish to be praised by a man who curses himself thrice every hour? wouldst thou wish to please a man who does not please himself? Does a man please himself who repents of nearly everything that he does?

For the intelligent power is no less diffused in all parts and pervades all things for him who is willing to draw it to him than the aerial power for him who is able to respire it.

still the ruling power of each of us has its own office,

my unhappiness may not depend on another.

H e who acts unjustly acts impiously.

he too who lies is guilty of impiety

he who pursues pleasure as good, and avoids pain as evil, is guilty of impiety.

he who is afraid of pain will sometimes also be afraid of some of the things which will happen in the world, and even this is impiety.

With respect to pain, then, and pleasure, or death and life, or honor and dishonor, which the universal nature employs equally, whoever is not equally affected is manifestly acting impiously.

Do not despise death, but be well content with it, since this too is one of those things which nature wills.

to be neither careless nor impatient nor contemptuous with respect to death, but to wait for it as one of the operations of nature.

thou wilt be made best reconciled to death by observing the objects from which thou art going to be removed, and the morals of those with whom thy soul will no longer be mingled.

He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.

He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who does a certain thing.

Wipe out imagination; check desire: extinguish appetite: keep the ruling faculty in its own power.

To-day I have got out of all trouble, or rather I have cast out all trouble, for it was not outside, but within and in my opinions.

It is thy duty to leave another man’s wrongful act there where it is

neither are the termination and cessation and change of thy whole life a thing to be afraid of.

Examine into the quality of the form of an object, and detach it altogether from its material part, and then contemplate it; then determine the time, the longest which a thing of this peculiar form is naturally made to endure.

Todo lo que ves y valoras está compuesto de forma y materia, y ambas están sujetas al tiempo y la descomposición. Al entender esto, tu mente se libera del apego y del temor a la pérdida.

When another blames thee or hates thee, or when men say about thee anything injurious, approach their poor souls, penetrate within, and see what kind of men they are. Thou wilt discover that there is no reason to take any trouble that these men may have this or that opinion about thee. However, thou must be well disposed towards them, for by nature they are friends. And the gods too aid them in all ways, by dreams, by signs, towards the attainment of those things on which they set a value. +

In a word, if there is a god, all is well; and if chance rules, do not thou also be governed by it

For if a man reflects on the changes and transformations which follow one another like wave after wave and their rapidity, he will despise everything which is perishable

Set thyself in motion, if it is in thy power, and do not look about thee to see if any one will observe it; nor yet expect Plato’s Republic:[A] but be content if the smallest thing goes on well, and consider such an event to be no small matter.

Simple and modest is the work of philosophy. Draw me not aside to insolence and pride.

consider, too, the life lived by others in olden time, and the life of those who will live after thee, and the life now lived among barbarous nations, and how many know not even thy name, and how many will soon forget it, and how they who perhaps now are praising thee will very soon blame thee, and that neither a posthumous name is of any value, nor reputation, nor anything else.

Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external cause;

let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action terminating in this, in social a...

Thou canst remove out of the way many useless things among those which disturb thee, for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou wilt then gain for thyself ample space by comprehending the whole universe in thy mind, and by contemplating the eternity of time, and observing the rapid change of every several thing, how short is the time from birth to dissolution...