Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Remember that the term Rational was intended to signify a discriminating attention to every several thing and freedom from negligence; and that Equanimity is the voluntary acceptance of things which are assigned to thee by the common nature; and the Magnanimity is the elevation of the intelligent part above the pleasurable or painful sensations of the flesh, and above that poor thing called fame, and death, and all such things. If then, thou maintainest thyself in the possession of these names, without desiring to be called by these names by others, thou wilt be another person and wilt enter into another life.

"Earth loves the rain, the proud sky loves to give it." The whole world loves to create futurity. I say then to the world, "I share your love." Is this not the source of the phrase, "This loves to happen"? ῾Ἐρᾷ μὲν ὄμβρου γαῖα, ἐρᾷ δὲ ὁ σεμνὸς αἰθήρ,᾿ ἐρᾷ δὲ ὁ κόσμος ποιῆσαι ὃ ἂν μέλλῃ γίνεσθαι. λέγω οὖν τῷ κόσμῳ ὅτι σοὶ συνερῶ. μήτι δὲ οὕτω κἀκεῖνο λέγεται, ὅτι: φιλεῖ τοῦτο γίνεσθαι; (The last phrase is quoted in J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey as "It loved to happen"; the tense is ambiguous in Greek.)

Death, like generation, is a secret of Nature.

The ruling power within, when it is in its natural state, is so related to outer circumstances that it easily changes to accord with what can be done and what is given it to do.

How much more damage anger and grief do than the things that cause them. (Hays translation)

Get busy with life's purpose, toss aside empty hopes, get active in your own rescue...

Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions—not outside. (Hays translation)

Go straight to the seat of intelligence.

You're better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve. (Hays translation)

Shame on the soul, to falter on the road of life while the body still perseveres.

The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands. The people who praise us—how capricious they are, how arbitrary. And the tiny region in which it all takes place. (Hays translation)

If thou canst see sharp, look and judge wisely, says the philosopher.

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.

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...

And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.