Marcus Aurelius quotes about life, discipline, and strength, as well as Marcus Aurelius Meditations quotes
Marcus Aurelius lived in the second century, in the years 121 – 180 AD. Aurelius became the Emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled for nearly two decades until his death in 180 AD. He was one of the most respected Roman emperors.
Aurelius is best known for his interest in philosophy and in Stoicism. He is considered as the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome.
Here is a selection of Marcus Aurelius Quotes about various topics.
Marcus Aurelius Quotes
Here is a selection of the best of Marcus Aurelius quotes on various topics.
You will find here insightful and wise quotes from Meditations and quotations about discipline and strength.
“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?”
“Here is a rule to remember in the future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not “This is misfortune,” but “To bear this worthily is good fortune.”
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
“A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.”
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.”
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
“Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.”
“Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; and if it is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.”
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius Meditations Quotes
Inspirational selection of Marcus Aurelius Meditations quotes.
Marcus Aurelius most known work is called “Meditations”. The original title of this work was “To Himself”. It is a work on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility and strength. Below, you will find quotations from his work.
“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.”
“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.”
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”
“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”
“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.”
“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.”
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
More of Marcus Aurelius Meditations Quotes
Additional selection of quotes from the meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
“The best answer to anger is silence.”
“It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgement concerning them.”
“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.”
“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.”
Related: Stoic Quotes to Change Your Perspective on Life
Great Sayings and Quotes from the ‘Meditations’ – Marcus Aurelius
“Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”
“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…”
“Receive without conceit, release without struggle.”
“If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.”
“Since the greatest part of what we say and do is unnecessary, dispensing with such activities affords a man more leisure and less uneasiness.”
“Begin – to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.”
“Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.”
“Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing, if you cease not from digging.”
“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.”
“To do harm is to do yourself harm. To do an injustice is to do yourself an injustice.”
“To live happily is an inward power of the soul.”
“Consider that everything is opinion, and opinion is in your power. Take away then, when you choose, your opinion, and like a mariner who has rounded the headland, you will find calm, everything stable, and a waveless bay.”
“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.”
“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.”
“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.”
Best Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Life
“When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.”
“Where a man can live, he can also live well.”
“The art of life is more like the wrestler’s art than the dancer’s, in respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets that are sudden and unexpected.”
“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”
“That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty.”
Marcus Aurelius Stoicism Quotes
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
“How trivial the things we want so passionately are.”
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Give yourself a gift, the present moment.”
“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”
“Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.”
Quotes Directory >> Marcus Aurelius Quotes
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