Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
III, 7
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book III
Marcus Aurelius: 400 quotes151 likes
Marcus Aurelius Quotes
“Very little is needed to make a happy life.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
ἐν ὀλιγίστοις κεῖται τὸ εὐδαιμόνως βιῶσαι
VII, 67
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII
“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“Receive without conceit, release without struggle.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Variant: How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.
Source: Meditations
“You may break your heart, but men will still go on as before.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Ὅτι οὐδὲν ἧττον τὰ αὐτὰ ποιήσουσι, κἂν σὺ διαρραγῇς.
VIII, 4
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Variant translation: If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one ever was truly harmed. Harmed is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance.
VI, 21
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VI
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
V.20
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V
Context: In a sense, people are our proper occupation. Our job is to do them good and put up with them. But when they obstruct our proper tasks, they become irrelevant to us--like sun, wind, and animals. Our actions may be impeded by them, but there can be no impeding our intentions or our dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. (Hays translation)
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
IV, 20
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IV
“A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“What we cannot bear removes us from life; what remains can be borne.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
VII, 61
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII
“A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“No man is happy who does not think himself so.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
Source: Meditations
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Hays translation
The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.
V, 16
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
VI, 28
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VI
“A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Ἀδικεῖ πολλάκις ὁ μὴ ποιῶν τι, οὐ μόνον ὁ ποιῶν τι.
IX, 5
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX
“Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
VI, 3
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VI
“Neither worse then or better is a thing made by being praised.”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations
“Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them. (Long translation)”
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
All men are made one for another: either then teach them better, or bear with them. (trans. Meric Casaubon).
Οἱ ἄνθρωποι γεγόνασιν ἀλλήλων ἕνεκεν· ἢ δίδασκε οὖν ἢ φέρε.
VIII, 59
Variant: Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII
Marcus Aurelius book Meditations
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX, 16
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.”
Source: The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage
