Marcus Aurelius

“Because your own strength is unequal to a task, do not assume it is beyond the powers of man.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“No one was ever injured by the truth; but he who persists in self-deception and ignorance is injured.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Purge your mind of all aimless and idle thoughts, especially those that pry into the affairs of others or wish them ill.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“There is but one thing of real value – to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“There is a limit circumscribed to your time – if you do not use it to clear away your clouds, it will be gone, and you will be gone, and the opportunity will not return.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The wrongdoer is often the person who left something undone, rather than the person who has done something.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Body. Soul. Mind. Sensations: the body. Desires: the soul. Reasoning: the mind.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Unhappy am I because this has happened to me.- Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around. That’s all you need to know.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the hypocrite.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“To the wise, life is a problem; to the fool, a solution.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Understand however that every man is worth just so much as the things are worth about which he busies himself.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be emerald, my color undiminished.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Death, like birth, is one of nature’s mysteries, the combining of primal elements and dissolving of the same into the same.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Practice really hearing what people say. Do your best to get inside their mind.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When forced, as it seems, by your environment to be utterly disquieted, return with all speed into your self, staying in discord no longer than you must. By constant recurrence to the harmony, you will gain more command over it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not expect Plato’s ideal republic; be satisfied with even the smallest step forward, and consider this no small achievement.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Direct thy attention to what is said. Let thy understanding enter into the things that are doing and the things which do them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“My true Self is free. I cannot be contained.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest been lived already, or is impossible to see. The span we live is small – small as the corner of the earth in which we live it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Be content to seem what you really are.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Take full account of what Excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If any man can convince me and bring home to me that which I do not think or act aright, gladly will I change; for I search after truth, by which man never yet was harmed. But he is harmed who abideth on still in his deception and ignorance.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people’s actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Begin – to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing, if you cease not from digging.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Because other people are fools, must you be so too?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If it is not right do not do it. If it is not true do not say it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Man is born for deeds of kindness.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The blazing fire makes flames and brightness out of everything thrown into it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“To refrain from imitation is the best revenge.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Cultivate these, then, for they are wholly within your power: sincerity and dignity; industriousness; and sobriety. Avoid grumbling, be frugal, considerate, and frank; be temperate in manner and speech; carry yourself with authority.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything is ephemeral, both that which remembers and that which is remembered.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, remember that your defining characteristic-what defines a human being-is to work with others.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your time has a limit set to it. Use it, then, to advance your enlightenment; or it will be gone, and never in your power again.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“He who follows reason in all things is both tranquil and active at the same time, and also cheerful and collected.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, o Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late, which is in due time for thee.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Treat with utmost respect your power of forming opinions, for this power alone guards you against making assumptions that are contrary to nature and judgments that overthrow the rule of reason.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whoever values peace of mind and the health of the soul will live the best of all possible lives.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The universe is in change, life is an opinion.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It’s normal to feel pain in your hands and feet, if you’re using your feet as feet and your hands as hands. And for a human being to feel stress is normal – if he’s living a normal life. And if it’s normal, how can it be bad?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“He who pays no attention to what his neighbor does, says or thinks, preferring to concentrate on making his own actions appropriate and justifiable, better uses his time.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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…” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“What springs from earth dissolves to earth again, and heaven-born things fly to their native seat.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The offender needs pity, not wrath; those who must needs be corrected, should be treated with tact and gentleness; and one must be always ready to learn better. ‘The best kind of revenge is, not to become like unto them.’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and 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.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly, And be patience with those who don’t.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Search men’s governing principles, and consider the wise, what they shun and what they cleave to.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Submit to the fate of your own free will.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“I am an old man and have had many worries, but most have never come to pass.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“To live happily is an inward power of the soul.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Were you to live three thousand years, or even thirty thousand, remember that the sole life which a man can lose is that which he is living at the moment; and furthermore, that he can have no other life except the one he loses…” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A man should remove not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for then superfluous activity will not follow.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendour until it is extinguished; and shall the truth which is in thee and justice and temperance be extinguished before thy death?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Our anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than the things themselves which anger or annoy us.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, and unassuming; the friend of justice and godliness; kindly, affectionate, and resolute in your devotion to duty.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A man should be upright, not be kept upright.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Discard everything except these few truths: we can live only in the present moment, in this brief now; all the rest of our life is dead and buried or shrouded in uncertainty. Short is the life we lead, and small our patch of earth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Remember that all is opinion.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is the duty of men to love even those who injure them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whoever does injustice, does it to himself, making himself evil.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is the act of a madman to pursue impossibilities .” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything is in a state of metamorphosis. Thou thyself art in everlasting change and in corruption to correspond; so is the whole universe.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Tomorrow is nothing, today is too late; the good lived yesterday.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Welcome every experience the looms of fate may weave for you…” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you. Things can’t shape our decisions by themselves.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“All things fade and quickly turn to myth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, than your everlasting readers.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from the present – thoughtfully, justly.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not act as if you had a thousand years to live.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It were well to die if there be gods, and sad to live if there be none.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whatever may happen to you was prepared for you from all eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of your being.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time-even when hard at work.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Flinch not, neither give up nor despair, if the achieving of every act in accordance with right principle is not always continuous with thee.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Anger cannot be dishonest.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, ‘This is a misfortune’ but ‘To bear this worthily is good fortune.’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Live with the gods. And he does so who constantly shows them that his soul is satisfied with what is assigned to him.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“To breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“What we do now echoes in eternity.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do. Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you. Sanity means tying it to your own actions.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“In the meantime, cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, not to trust prosperity, and always take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your task is to stand straight; not to be held straight.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You have to assemble your life yourself – action by action.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“For any particular thing, ask: What is it in itself? What is its nature?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Don’t be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you’ve been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“I will march on in the path of nature till my legs sink under me, and then I shall be at rest, and expire into that air which has given me my daily breath.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Take the shortest route. The one that nature planned – to speak and act in the healthiest way. Do that, and be free of pain and stress, free of all calculations and pretension.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Because a thing is difficult for you, do not therefore suppose it to be beyond mortal power. On the contrary, if anything is possible and proper for man to do, assume that it must fall within your own capacity.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Just as the sand-dunes, heaped one upon another, hide each the first, so in life the former deeds are quickly hidden by those that follow after.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Neither worse then or better is a thing made by being praised.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“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.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy; none of its parts are unconnected. They are composed harmoniously, and together – they compose the world.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Take me and cast me where you will; I shall still be possessor of the divinity within me, serene and content.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly. What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Where a man can live, he can also live well.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Remember: Matter: how tiny your share of it. Time: how brief and fleeting your allotment of it. Fate: how small a role you play in it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Regain your senses, call yourself back, and once again wake up. Now that you realize that only dreams were troubling you, view this ‘reality’ as you view your dreams.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets, and from the vagaries of the mind, and from the hard service of the flesh.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

“Bear in mind that the measure of a man is the worth of the things he cares about.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“To expect an impossibility is madness.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“This is the mark of a perfect character – to pass through each day as though it were the last, without agitation, without torpor, and without pretense.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“People find pressure in different ways. I find it in keeping my mind clear. In not turning away from people or the things that happen to them. In accepting and welcoming everything I see. In treating each thing as it deserves.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Remind oneself continually of one of those who practiced virtue in days gone by.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“How soon will time cover all things.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“We are born for synergy, just like the feet, just like the hands, just like the eyes, just like the rows of upper and lower teeth. Working against each other is unnatural, and being annoyed and turning one’s back is counterproductive.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Failing to understand the workings of one’s own mind is bound to lead to unhappiness.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“I’m going to be meeting with people today who talk too much – people who are selfish, egotistical, ungrateful. But I won’t be surprised or disturbed, for I can’t imagine a world without such people.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You should banish any thoughts of how you may appear to others.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Find joy in simplicity, self-respect, and indifference to what lies between virtue and vice. Love the human race. Follow the divine.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The soul is dyed by the thoughts. Dye it then, with a continuous series of such thoughts as these – that where a man can live, there – if he will – he can also live well.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Stop whatever you’re doing for a moment and ask yourself: Am I afraid of death because I won’t be able to do this anymore?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You need to be prepared for firm decisions and action, without losing gentleness towards those who obstruct or abuse you. It’s as great a weakness to be angry with them as it is to abandon your plan of action and give up through fear.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The body of an actor can be either his best friend or his worst enemy.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in thy power.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Embellish the soul with simplicity, with prudence, and everything which is neither virtuous nor vicious. Love all men. Walk according to God; for, as a poet hath said, his laws govern all.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Limit time to the present. Meditate upon your last hour.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The stone that is thrown into the air is none the worse for falling down, and none the better for going up.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

“Without a purpose, nothing should be done.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

“Tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“All is as thinking makes it so.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You are a little soul carrying about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and ay, ‘Why were things of this sort ever brought into the world?’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“In reading and writing, you cannot lay down rules until you have learnt to obey them. Much more so in life.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If it’s in your control, why do you do it? If it’s in someone else’s control, then who are you blaming? Atoms? The gods? Stupid either way. Blame no one. Set people straight, if you can. If not, just repair the damage.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Poverty is the mother of crime.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given, and not waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Spend your brief moment according to nature’s law, and serenely greet the journey’s end as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bare it, and giving thanks to the tree that gave it life.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Turn thy thoughts now to the consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every change was a death. Is this anything to fear?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“External things are not the problem. It’s your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“All that happens is as usual and familiar as the rose in spring and the crop in summer.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“All things of the body stream away like a river, all things of the mind are dreams and delusion; life is warfare, and a visit to a strange land; the only lasting fame is oblivion.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Leave other people’s mistakes where they lie.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“And in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of being, the easier it is to discern a connection even among things separated by vast distances.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble nor shameful – and hence neither good nor bad.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The act of dying is one of the acts of life.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“No man is happy who does not think himself so.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Take it that you have died today, and your life’s story is ended; and henceforward regard what future time may be given you as uncovenanted surplus, and live it out in harmony with nature.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in their station. Pray, shall not a man act like a man?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“One universe made up all that is; and one God in it all, and one principle of being, and one law, the reason shared by all thinking creatures, and one truth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“At day’s first light have in readiness, against disinclination to leave your bed, the thought that “I am rising for the work of man.”” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The longest-lived and the shortest-lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Within ten days thou wilt seem a god to those to whom thou art now a beast and an ape, if thou wilt return to thy principles and the worship of reason.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

“When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Past and future have no power over you. Just the present – and even that can be minimized.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“How powerful is man! He is able to do all that God wishes him to do. He is able to accept all that God sends upon him.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible; life in a palace is possible; therefore even in a palace a right life is possible.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and round it the seething waters are laid to rest.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“We are born for cooperation.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Life is a warfare and a stranger’s sojourn, and after fame is oblivion.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“In the morning, when you are sluggish about getting up, let this thought be present: ‘I am rising to a man’s work.’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Observe the movements of the stars as if you were running their courses with them, and let your mind constantly dwell on the changes of the elements into each other. Such imaginings wash away the filth of life on the ground.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“We are born for cooperation, as are the feet, the hands, the eyelids, and the upper and lower jaws.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Change your attitude to the things that bother you and you will be aware of them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Whatever the universal nature assigns to any man at any time is for the good of that man at that time.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your mind will take on the character of your most frequent thoughts: souls are dyed by thoughts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he pursues.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Things that have a common quality ever quickly seek their kind.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Dress not thy thoughts in too fine a raiment. And be not a man of superfluous words or superfluous deeds.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Your manners will depend very much upon the quality of what you frequently think on; for the soul is as it were tinged with the colour and complexion of thought.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do towards other humans.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Never act without purpose and resolve, or without the means to finish the job.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it – turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself, so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Love the people with whom fate brings you together.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

“While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

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

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

“Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“I was once a fortunate man but at some point fortune abandoned me. But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If unwilling to rise in the morning, say to thyself, ‘I awake to do the work of a man.’” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Once you have done a man a service, what more reward would you have? Is it not enough to have obeyed the laws of your own nature, without expecting to be paid for it?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all – that is myself.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Confine yourself to the present.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look to nothing, not even for a moment except to reason.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is not the weight of the future or the past that is pressing upon you, but ever that of the present alone. Even this burden, too, can be lessened if you confine it strictly to its own limits.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“You are making an inopportune rejection of what Nature has given you today, if all your mind is set on what men will say of you tomorrow.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“There was a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, it was so fragile.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Live not one’s life as though one had a thousand years, but live each day as the last.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstance revert at once to yourself and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of harmony if you keep going back to it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Each day provides its own gifts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It doesn’t hurt me unless I interpret its happening as harmful to me. I can choose not to.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Withdraw to the untroubled quietude deep within the soul, and refresh yourself.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“It is not the body, nor the personality that is the true self. The true self is eternal. Even on the point of death we can say to ourselves, “my true self is free. I cannot be contained.”” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Nothing that goes on in anyone else’s mind can harm you.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“This is moral perfection: to live each day as though it were the last; to be tranquil, sincere, yet not indifferent to one’s fate.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Nature in no case cometh short of art, for the arts are copiers of natural forms.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The universal order and the personal order are nothing but different expressions and manifestations of a common underlying principle.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The intelligence of the universe is social.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The whole universe is change and life itself is but what you deem it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Live your life as if you are ready to say goodbye to it at any moment, as if the time left for you were some pleasant surprise.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“When pain is unbearable it destroys us; when it does not it is bearable.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Let no act be done without purpose.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“If it’s time for you to go, leave willingly – as you would to accomplish anything that can be done with grace and honor.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The world is a living being – one nature, one soul. Keep that in mind.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“In an expression of true gratitude, sadness is conspicuous only by its absence.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Objective judgement, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance – now, at this very moment – of all external events. That’s all you need.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Death, like birth, is a secret of Nature.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Receive without conceit, release without struggle.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“A good disposition is invincible, if it be genuine.” ~ Marcus Aurelius