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 ar… - Marcus Aurelius

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Engraved portrait of Marcus Aurelius, facing left

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)

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About Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors (a term coined some 13 centuries later by Niccolò Machiavelli), and the last emperor of the Pax Romana (27 BC to 180), an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161.

Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011) (CC BY)

Also Known As

Native Name: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Alternative Names: Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus Marcus Annius Verus Marcus Catilius Severus Annius Verus Verissimus Marcus Aurelius Verus Antoninus

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Additional quotes by Marcus Aurelius

The mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future be inexpugnable. He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man: but he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.

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