Don’t be overheard complaining about life at court. Not even to yourself.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Marcus Aurelius
Perfection of character
Perfection of character: To live your last day, every day, without frenzy, or sloth, or pretense.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Right or wrong
Then the only proper response for me to make is this: You are much mistaken, my friend, if you think that any man worth his salt cares about the risk of death and doesn’t concentrate on this alone: whether what he’s doing is right or wrong, and his behavior a good man’s or a bad one’s.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Thoughts like this
To watch the courses of the stars as if you revolved with them. To keep constantly in mind how the elements alter into one another. Thoughts like this wash off the mud of life below.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Each existing only briefly
Nature takes substance and makes a horse. Like a sculpture with wax. And then melts it down and uses the material for a tree. Then for a person. Then for something else. Each existing only briefly. It does the container no harm to be put together, and none to be taken apart.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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You have the option
Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option:
~ Marcus Aurelius
– to accept this event with humility
– to treat this person as he should be treated
– to approach this thought with care, so that nothing irrational creeps in.
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Your assignment, complete
Consider all that you’ve gone through, all that you’ve survived. And that the story of your life is done, your assignment complete. How many good things have you seen? How much pain and pleasure have you resisted? How many honors have you declined? How many unkind people have you been kind to?
~ Marcus Aurelius
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The best revenge
The best revenge is not to be like that.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Good fortune
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
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A master of deception
That’s what we need to do all the time—all through our lives when things lay claim to our trust—to lay them bare and see how pointless they are, to strip away the legend that encrusts them. Pride is a master of deception: When you think you’re occupied in the weightiest business, that’s when he has you in his spell.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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