Marc Aurèle citations (412 citations, Page 9)

X, 30
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book X
Contexte: When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in what manner thou doest error thyself... For by attending to this thou wilt quickly forget thy anger, if this consideration is also added, that the man is compelled; for what else could he do? or, if thou art able, take away from him the compulsion.

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work – as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for – the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”

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Hays translation
At dawn of day, when you dislike being called, have this thought ready: "I am called to man's labour; why then do I make a difficulty if I am going out to do what I was born to do and what I was brought into the world for?(Farquharson translation)
Ὄρθρου, ὅταν δυσόκνως ἐξεγείρῃ, πρόχειρον ἔστω ὅτι ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπου ἔργον ἐγείρομαι· ἔτι οὖν δυσκολαίνω, εἰ πορεύομαι ἐπὶ τὸ ποιεῖν ὧν ἕνεκεν γέγονα καὶ ὧν χάριν προῆγμαι εἰς τὸν κόσμον; ἢ ἐπὶ τοῦτο κατεσκεύασμαι, ἵνα κατακείμενος ἐν στρωματίοις ἐμαυτὸν θάλπω;
V, 1
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V

“Think on this doctrine,—that reasoning beings were created for one another's sake; that to be patient is a branch of justice, and that men sin without intending it.”

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IV, 3
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IV

“If 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.”

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IX, 28
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX

“Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.”

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Meditations. ii. 7.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)

“Nature which governs the whole will soon change all things which thou seest, and out of there substance will make other things, and again other things from the substance of them, in order that the world may ever be new.”

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Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII, 25

“An arrow has one motion and the mind another. Even when pausing, even when weighing conclusions, the mind is moving forward, toward its goal.”

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Hays translation
VIII, 60
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII

“Yes, you can--if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You will find rest from vain fancies if you perform every act in life as though it were your last.”

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Hays translation
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book II, 5

“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.”

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III, 11
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book III

“Have I done something for the general interest? Well then I have had my reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop doing such good.”

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XI, 4
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book XI

“Yet living and dying, honour and dishonour, pain and pleasure, riches and poverty, and so forth are equally the lot of good men and bad. Things like these neither elevate nor degrade; and therefore they are no more good than they are evil.”

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II, 11
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book II

“As the nature of the universal has given to every rational being all the powers that it has, so we have received from it this power also. For as the universal nature converts and fixes in its predestined place everything which stands in the way and opposes it, and makes such things a part of itself, so also the rational animal is able to make every hindrance its own material, and to use it for such purpose as it may have designed.”

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VIII, 35
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII

“Wilt thou then, my soul, never be good and simple and one and naked, more manifest than the body which surrounds thee? Wilt thou never enjoy an affectionate and contented disposition? Wilt thou never be full and without a want of any kind, longing for nothing more, nor desiring anything, either animate of inanimate, for the enjoyment of pleasures? nor yet desiring time wherein thou shalt have longer enjoyment, or place, or pleasant climate, or society of men with whom thou mayst live in harmony? but wilt thou be satisfied with thy present condition, and pleased with all that is around thee, and wilt thou convince thyself that thou hast everything and that it comes from the gods, that everything is well for thee, and will be well whatever shall please them, and whatever they shall give for the conservation of the perfect living being, the good and just and beautiful, which generates and holds together all things, and contains and embraces all things which are dissolved for the production of other like things? Wilt thou never be such that thou shalt so dwell in community with gods and men as neither to find fault with them at all, nor to be condemned by them?”

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X, 1
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book X

“In the constitution of that 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.”

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VIII, 39
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII

“Waste not the remnant of thy life in those imaginations touching other folk, whereby thou contributest not to the common weal.”

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III, 4
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book III

“Remember this, then, that this little compound, thyself, must either be dissolved, or they poor breath must be extinguished, or be removed and placed elsewhere.”

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VIII, 25
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VIII

“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.”

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Marcus Aurelius

Attributed in The Life You Were Born to Live : Finding Your Life Purpose (1995) by Dan Millman, Pt. 2, Ch. 2 : Cooperation and Balance
Disputed

“Art thy not content that thou hast done something conformable to thy nature, and dost thou seek to be paid for it? Just as if the eye demanded recompense for seeing, or the feet for walking. For as these members are formed for a particular purpose… so also is man formed by nature to acts of benevolence.”

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IX, 42
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX

“But that which is useful is the better.”

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III, 6
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book III

“How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility.”

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To shrug it all off and wipe it clean--every annoyance and distraction--and reach utter stillness. Child's play. (Hays translation)
V, 2
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book V