Marcus Aurelius

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.

Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains... But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself.

Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, 'I have been harmed.' Take away the complaint, and the harm is taken away.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being.'

Take care not to be Caesarified, or dyed with purple; for it does happen. Keep thyself then simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation.

It is a man's special privilege to love even those who wrong him.

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.

Your present opinion founded on understanding, your present conduct directed to social good, your present disposition contented with everything that happens — that is enough.

Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.

Everything you're trying to reach — by taking the long way round — you could have right now, this moment. If you'd only stop thwarting your own attempts.

Of human life the time is a point, the substance flowing, the perception dull... The only thing that escorts a man on his way is philosophy.

Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.

Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.

Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives.

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.

Do every act of thy life as if it were thy last, free from all vanity, passionate deviation from reason, hypocrisy, self-love, and discontent with thy portion.

Throw away all things, and retain these few only. Further, remember that every man lives only the present moment; the rest of life has been already lived, or is uncertain.

If thou wouldst be at rest, do little. But it is better to do necessary things, and as many as the reason of a social animal requires, and as it requires.

Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.

If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth.

That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.

Do not be ashamed to be helped; for it is thy business to do thy duty like a soldier in the assault on a town.

Near is thy forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of thee by all.

Every nature is contented with itself when it goes on its way well; and a rational nature goes on its way well, when in its thoughts it assents to nothing false or uncertain.

Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect to befall thee.

He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the universal nature has made rational animals for the sake of one another, he who acts contrary to nature commits impiety against the highest divinity.

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

Wilt thou, then, my soul, never be good and simple and one and naked, more manifest than the body which surrounds thee?

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they cannot tell good from evil.

Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see.

If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.

From my tutor I learned endurance of labour, and to want little, and to work with my own hands, and not to meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander.

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.

From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to nature; and gravity without affectation.

In my father I observed mildness of temper, and unchangeable resolution in the things which he had determined after due deliberation... a man ready to listen to those who had anything to propose for the common weal.

Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed.

Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it.

Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice.

This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole.

Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round, and pries into the things beneath the earth, and conjectures what is in the minds of his neighbours, without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within him.

The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an abscess, and, as it were, a tumour on the universe... Secondly, when it is averse from any man, or even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are angry.

We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the things which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing and attractive.

If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude... turn to it with all thy soul.

To the aids which have been mentioned let this one still be added: make for thyself a definition or description of the thing which is presented to thee, so as to see distinctly what kind of a thing it is in its substance.

If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee... thou wilt live happy.

Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art.

That which does not make a man worse than he was, also does not make his life worse, nor does it harm him either from without or from within.

How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure.

He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon.

Hast thou reason? I have. Why then dost not thou use it?

Consider, for example, the times of Vespasian. Thou wilt see all these things: people marrying, bringing up children, sick, dying, warring, feasting, trafficking... And now that life of theirs is no where.

Think continually how many physicians are dead after often contracting their eyebrows over the sick; and how many astrologers after predicting with great pretensions the deaths of others.

One kind of man, when he has done a service to another, is ready to set down the favour to his account. Another is not ready to do this, but still in his own mind he thinks of the man as his debtor... But a third in a manner does not even know what he has done, but he is like a vine which has produced grapes.

Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from all eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being.

Be not disgusted, nor discouraged, nor dissatisfied, if thou dost not succeed in doing everything according to right principles; but when thou hast failed, return back again.

Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear.

Often think of the rapidity with which things pass by and disappear... For substance is like a river in a continual flow, and the activities of things are in constant change.

Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep... For the activity about which thou art busied is a kind of sacred function.

Take pleasure in one thing and rest in it, in passing from one social act to another social act, thinking of God.

What then is that which ought to be valued? To be received with clapping of hands? No. Neither must we value the clapping of tongues, for the praise which comes from the many is a clapping of tongues.

If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by thyself, do not think that it is impossible for man: but if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by thyself too.

When thou wishest to delight thyself, think of the virtues of those who live with thee; for instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of another, and the liberality of a third.

Accustom thyself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and as much as it is possible, be in the speaker's mind.

Vain pomp, plays on the stage, flocks of sheep, herds of oxen, mock combats, bones thrown to little dogs, crumbs into fish-ponds, labourings of ants and burden-carryings, runnings about of frightened little mice, puppets pulled by strings — all these are alike.

All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy... For there is one common world made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things.

When a man has done thee any wrong, immediately consider with what opinion about good or evil he has done wrong. For when thou hast seen this, thou wilt pity him, and wilt neither wonder nor be angry.

Think not so much of what thou hast not as of what thou hast: but of the things which thou hast select the best, and then reflect how eagerly they would have been sought if thou hadst them not.

Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to another.

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

This is the mark of perfection of character — to pass through every day as if it were the last, without agitation, without torpor, without pretence.

First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second, make thy acts refer to nothing else than to a social end.

It is not fit that I should give myself pain, for I have never intentionally given pain even to another.

Thou must arrange thy life, action by action, and if each action, so far as it is possible, does its office, be satisfied.

Nothing happens to any thing which that thing is not made by nature to bear.

Say nothing more to thyself than what the first appearances report. Suppose that it has been reported to thee that a certain person speaks ill of thee. This has been reported; but that thou hast been injured, that has not been reported.

Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.

Do not despise death, but be well content with it, since this too is one of those things which nature wills.

He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.

He who does not do the things which he ought to do, is guilty of injustice equally with him who does the things which he ought not to do.

Love the art, poor as it may be, which thou hast learned, and be content with it; and pass through the rest of life like one who has intrusted to the gods with his whole soul all that he has.

When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in what like manner thou dost err thyself.

Either the gods have no power or they have power. If, then, they have no power, why dost thou pray to them? But if they have power, why dost thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest?

Everything which happens either happens in such wise as thou art formed by nature to bear it, or as thou art not formed by nature to bear it. If, then, it happens to thee in such way as thou art formed by nature to bear it, do not complain, but bear it as thou art formed by nature to bear it.

Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God.

Acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all things change into one another, and constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself about this part of philosophy. For nothing is so much adapted to produce magnanimity.

It is enough to remember that the limit which is best for each thing is that which contains it; and it is not the man who chooses it, but the nature of the whole.

These are the properties of the rational soul: it sees itself, analyses itself, and makes itself such as it chooses; the fruit which it bears itself enjoys.

What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body... But this readiness must come from a man's own judgement, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but considerately and with dignity.

It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgements.

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 opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

Either there is a fatal necessity and invincible order, or a kind Providence, or a confusion without a purpose. If then there is an invincible necessity, why dost thou resist?

Continually think of those who have been very indignant at anything... Where are they all now? Smoke and ash, a tale, or not even a tale.

How small a part of boundless and unfathomable time is assigned to every man! For it is very soon swallowed up in the eternal. And how small a part of the whole substance!

Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures.

From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper.

From my mother, piety and bountifulness; to abstain from evil deeds and thoughts; and simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.

From my brother Severus, love to my kin, and to love truth and justice; and through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion, Brutus, and received the idea of a polity administered with equity.

From my brother, I learned to be ready to be reconciled with those who have once offended, when they are willing to meet us halfway; and to read carefully, and not to be satisfied with a superficial knowledge of books.

From the gods, I received good grandfathers, good parents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good.

When thou risest in the morning, think what a privilege it is to live, to think, to enjoy, to love.

The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.

If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it. For let thy efforts be in this manner.

Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling.

What then is it which can conduct a man? One thing and only one — philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daemon within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pain and pleasure.

The present moment is equal for all; so what is passing away is equal for all; what then is the advantage to be gained by the greatest names, or the most infamous?

We ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away, but also that this part of it which is called life is daily diminishing, so that the day when we are not living or not making any progress is also a day of life.

At 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?

If thou findest in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best.

Just as we must understand, when it is said, It is the will of Asclepius, that it is the will of Asclepius that something shall be, so too we must understand, when it is said, It is the will of nature, that it is the will of nature that something shall be.

I shall meet to-day inquisitive, ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil.

Let not a man do anything else but what tends to the harmony of the whole, and what is useful to it. For every part of nature, if it is useful, it is also good; and it is useful for the whole.

If our intellectual part is common, the reason also, in respect of which we are rational beings, is common: if this is so, common also is the reason which commands us what to do, and what not to do.

If the power of deliberation is not in our control, nothing else is. For if it is not in our control, it is not our own action. And if it is our own action, we are free.

If the gods have determined about me and about the things which must happen to me, they have determined well, for it is not easy even to imagine a deity without forethought.

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.

It is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere, either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble, does a man retire than into his own soul.

To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to reason.

Whatever happens to thee, it was prepared for thee from eternity, and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being.

Even when a man shall have completely lost the power of thought, let him still hold fast to this social affection. For a much better thing is this social affection than the pleasure of the senses.

Wipe out thy imagination: turn away thy desire: extinguish thy appetite: keep the ruling part of the soul in its own power.

Everything which is in any way beautiful is beautiful in itself, and terminates in itself, not having praise as part of itself. Neither worse then nor better is a thing made by being praised.

If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.

Put from thee the opinion which thou hast that this is a wearisome thing, and the thing is changed: so too with thy foot, if thou keep it still on the footboard.

Hasten to examine thy own governing part and the things about it. If there is anything in it that is diseased, reject it. But if thou seest it free from disease, consider no other thing.

To the better part of the soul it is indifferent whether it is moved to a feverish or a healthy state, or whether it is in a state of heat or cold; for the soul is equally indifferent to all these.

When a man is properly disciplined in self-respect and reverence, he will not be easily moved to indignation, and his aspect will not be querulous.

Cease to be carried away by the stream of life, and wake up, as from a dream. See things as they are, and consider them as they really are.

Let the opinion which thou hast formed about the thing be thrown away, and the thing itself will remain whole and safe. Why then art thou troubled?

The intelligence of the universe is social. Accordingly it has made the inferior things for the sake of the superior, and it has fitted the superior to one another.

Thou art not dissatisfied, I suppose, because thou weighest only so many pounds, and not three hundred. Be not dissatisfied, then, that thou must live only so many years, and not more.

Let us try to persuade men of it. But act even against their will, when the principles of justice lead thee. If however any one by using force stands in thy way, betake thyself to contentment and tranquility, and at the same time employ the hindrance towards the exercise of some other virtue.

If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him his error. But if thou art not able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself.

Whatever may happen to thee, it was prepared for thee from eternity; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being, and of all things that are connected with thee.

Fit thyself to the estate in which providence has placed thee, and love the people with whom it is thy lot to live, but do it sincerely.

Always make a sketch or plan of whatever presents itself to thy mind, so as to see what sort of thing it is when stripped down to its essence, and tell thyself its proper name and the names of its parts.

What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee. It is no harm to the bee if it is not good for the swarm. But if the bee is not good for the swarm, it is not good for the bee either.

If sailors spoke ill of the pilot or patients of the physician, what else would they listen to but what is good for them?

Go to the sleep with these thoughts: This body is a corpse; this dwelling is a lodging; this life is a passing journey.

Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around.

Soon, very soon, thou wilt be ashes, or a skeleton, and either a name or not even a name; but name is sound and echo. And the things which are much valued in life are empty and rotten and trifling.

How good it is, when thou hast roasted meats and such eatables before thee, to impress on thy mind that this is the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead body of a bird or of a pig... Such then are these impressions, and they reach the things themselves and penetrate them, and so we see the things as they truly are.

The ambitious man supposes another's activity to be his own good; the man who loves pleasure supposes his own sensation to be his good; but he who has understanding considers his own acts to be his own good.

How can our principles become dead, unless the impressions which correspond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame.

With respect to pain: the pain which is intolerable carries us off; but that which lasts a long time is tolerable; and the mind maintains its own tranquillity by retiring into itself.

Look round at the courses of the stars, as if thou wert going along with them; and constantly consider the changes of the elements into one another; for such thoughts purge away the filth of the terrene life.

Whenever thou art troubled about anything, thou hast forgotten this, that all things happen according to the universal nature; and forgotten this, that a man's wrongful act is nothing to thee.

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own wickedness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's wickedness, which is impossible.

Consider that men will do the same things nevertheless, even though thou shouldst burst.

Remember that as it is a shame to be surprised if the fig-tree produces figs, so it is to be surprised if the world produces such and such things of which it is productive.

Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error.

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

Remember that the ruling faculty is invincible, when self-collected it is satisfied with itself, if it does nothing which it does not choose to do, even if it resist from mere obstinacy.

A cucumber is bitter. Throw it away. There are briars in the road. Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, 'And why were such things made in the world?'

Thou canst remove out of the way many useless things among those which disturb thee, for they lie entirely in thy opinion; and thou wilt then gain for thyself ample space by comprehending the whole universe in thy mind.

When thou hast done a good act and another has received it, why dost thou still look for a third thing besides these, as fools do, either to have the reputation of having done a good act, or to obtain a return?

Constantly consider how all things such as they now are, in time past also were; and consider that they will be the same again. And place before thy eyes entire dramas and stages of the same form... All these things were such as they are now: only the actors were different.

Every man on the point of doing anything, let him ask himself, Is this one of the unnecessary things? Nor is it enough to remove unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after.

As the leaves that the wind scatters to the ground, so are the generations of men.

Have I done something for the general interest? Well then I have had my reward. Let this always be present to thy mind, and never stop doing such good.

Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquillity.

All is opinion. For it is plain that Monimus the Cynic said, and plain also is the use of what was said, if a man receives what may be got out of it as far as it is true.

When thou art offended at any man's fault, forthwith turn to thyself and reflect in what like manner thou dost err thyself.

What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daemon within a man free from violence and unharmed.

Perhaps you have not this power, but you have the following: to be free from resentment, from lowly aspirations, from ostentation.

I am composed of the formal and the material; and neither of them will perish into non-existence, as neither of them came into existence out of non-existence.

Things themselves touch not the soul; for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within.

Consider that before long thou wilt be nobody and nowhere.

Nothing is either great or small: nothing is base or dishonourable but what our own opinion makes it.

Look within. Let neither the peculiar quality of anything nor its value escape thee.

In the gymnastic exercises suppose that a man has torn thee with his nails, and by dashing against thy head has inflicted a wound. Well, we neither show any signs of vexation, nor are we offended, nor do we suspect him afterwards as a treacherous fellow. And yet we are on our guard.

How cruel it is not to allow men to strive after the things which appear to them to be suitable to their nature and profitable!

Whatever this is that I am, it is flesh and a little breath, and the ruling part.

Nothing is more terrible than the ordinary things, if a man does not know what use to make of them.

Do not consider what those around thee say, but look straight ahead.

Even this is a help towards putting away vain glory, that it is no longer in thy power to have lived the whole of thy life, or at least thy life from thy youth upwards, like a philosopher.

Neither in thy actions be sluggish nor in thy conversation without method, nor wandering in thy thoughts.

Let not future things disturb thee, for thou wilt come to them, if it shall be necessary, having with thee the same reason which now thou usest for present things.

There is nothing on the earth so choice and rare that it is not the food of philosophy.