Quotes from book

Meditations

“A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.”

“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present - I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?”

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”

“Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.”

“Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not "This is misfortune," but "To bear this worthily is good fortune.”

“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 was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”

“Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.”

“A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.”

“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”

“The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.”

“Receive without conceit, release without struggle.”

“You may break your heart, but men will still go on as before.”

“What we cannot bear removes us from life; what remains can be borne.”

“Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is already in dissolution and change, and as it were putrefaction or dispersion, or that everything is so constituted in nature as to die.”

“The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.”

“In the case of most pains let this remark of Epicurus aid thee, that the pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting, if thou bear in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination…”

“Remember this— that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.”

“In the morning, when thou art sluggish at rousing thee, let this thought be present; “I am rising to a man’s work.””

“On the occasion of every act ask thyself, How is this with respect to me? Shall I repent of it? A little time and I am dead, and all is gone.”