Meditations – Marcus Aurelius •

Book III
Always have a sense of urgency for the things that you will approach. Including
death.
• One must bound with nature to see its true beauty.
• Never let others mind distract your directing mind.
Book I • “What is in my mind now?”
• Tolerance for criticism; integrity and manliness; decency and a mild temper; generosity; • Be unsullied by pleasures, unscathed by pain, untouched by the wrong, unconscious of
minding your own business; show gratitude. wickedness…
• Habits of the rich; affinity for philosophy; desire for treatment of my character; never • Avoid being thrown by any passion, understand the care of justice, enjoys with your heart
satisfied with superficial thoughts; ignore the dice of fortune; an uncomplaining energy of the experiences around you and only rarely wonder what others might be doing/saying.
for what needs to be done; be beyond flattery; never break out a sweat. • “Let the god within you be the campion of who you are.”
• Never be harsh, relentless, or impetuous always unhurried, organized, vigorous and • “Your duty is to stand straight, not held straight.”
consistent; become a man of full and indomitable spirit. • “From all inducements of senses, which has subordinated itself to the gods and takes care
• Grateful for the help of gods and fortune’s favor. for men.”
• Know where to draw the line, don’t break your faith.
Book II • Makes no drama of one’s own life and never crave for solitude or crowds.
• Don’t let your directing mind be entertained by judgments that fails to align with nature.
• You cannot be harmed by people who share the same mind as you, so don’t work in
• Always make decisions that your future self will be happy with.
opposition.
• “No more disquiet at your present or suspicion of your future fate.” • “Abandon vain hopes, rescue yourself.”
• You would never be given endless grace by the gods.
• If times gone, so will your opportunities. You don’t have time to waste. Book IV
• Live a god-fearing life: have clear aim, follow reason not passion, have clear vision, • “No action should be undertaken without aim.”
never pretend to yourself, and never blame anything with what fate has dealt you. • In order to advance you need to retreat, but this retreat should be quick and sufficient.
• Never let your own welfare depend on others. (Revisit your alternatives)
• Never drift in life. Always have a clear goal. • “The universe is change; life is judgement.”
• “Offences of lust are graver than those of anger.” • “Remove the judgment and you have removed the thought ‘I am hurt’, remove the
• Death is a function of nature, so never try to oppose the flow of nature. thought ‘I am hurt,’ and the hurt itself us resolved.” (Book 4, 8 !)
• “Ignorance of good and evil is no less than the disability to distinguish between light and • Seek only the truth, the plain truth.
dark.” • “You are a part of the whole, a part of nature and the cycle never ends, so don’t fear of
• “All is as thinking makes it so.” Your perception dictates reality. what’s going to come.”
• The souls who are gripped by anger, loses to pleasure or pain, or makes decisions without • “Focus only one the race with yourself, don’t be bothered by others.”
conscious attention will harm only a man himself. • “Praise doesn’t make anything better or worse.”
• “All things of the body stream away like river, all things of mind are dream and • “No wondering. In every impulse, give what is right in thought, stick to what is certain.”
delusions; life is warfare, and a visit in a strange land.” • “Is this, or is It not something necessary?”
• “Look into their directing minds: observe what even the wise will avoid or pursue.”
• “You are a soul carrying a corpse.” - Epictetus
• “If that’s no failing during the process, there will be no success as a result.”
• “This is no misfortune, but to bear it true to yourself is good fortune.”
 • I do my own duty; the other things do not distract me.
Book V • “Book 6, 30”
• Look at things that troubles you when you’re awake, not when you’re asleep.
• “Never be reluctant to get up.”
• Nothing gives absolute pleasure.
• Follow your own nature and universal nature.
• Certainly, he who governs the whole will make good use of you.
• Values of yourself: Book 5, 5
• You are not aiming at the impossible, so what were you aiming at?
• Be “unconscious” of the good that you do.
• “What does not benefit the hive does not benefit the bee either.”
• Prayer should be single and open or not at all.
• How quickly time will cover everything – how much is covered already.
• Obedience to reason is no great burden, but a source of relief.
• Nothing will happen to me which is nothing accordance with the nature of the whole. (?)
• Souls are dyed of thoughts, so dye your own with a succession of thought like: Book 5, Book VII
16.
• No let any harm in the flesh harm your soul. • All that lies outside of my own mind is nothing to it.
• No evil, do no evil. (?) Remind yourself what you have been though and had the • Show you value → do not compete with those who are lower than you.
strength to endure; that the story of your life is fully told, and your service is • Stan straight – or held straight.
completed; how often you have seen beauty, disregarded pleasure, and pain, forgive • Whatever anyone does or says, I must be an emerald and keep my own color.
glory and been kind to the unkind. • The directing mind does not disturb itself.
• Book 5, 32… • I’m not angry with you, only go away.
• Can any benefit of life be achieved without change?
• Soon you will have forgotten all things, and all things will have forgotten you.
Book VI • The man has not harmed you – has not made your directing mind worse than before.
• “Make the best move you can.” • When someone does you wrong, don’t go for revenge, but instead think of why they did
• Look within: do not allow the special quality or worth of anything pass by. –-> be it, then you’ll pity them.
sightful. • It is no more hardship for a box to be broken up than to be put together.
• The best revenge is not to be like your enemy. • Be grateful for the things you have and hungry for the things you desire.
• Vanity is the greatest seductor, when you think you work is the most important, that’s • Master your mind, a mind that can control the face and the body.
when you’re under the spell. • Mere things, brute facts, should not provoke your rage.
• “Just as the ceaseless passage of time make eternity ever young.” • “Book 7, 47”
• There is nothing to alive in transpiring like plants or breathing like cattle and wild • Do your best and see where nature will lead you.
creatures; nothing in taking the stamp of sense impressions or jerking to the puppet- • To be rational and intelligent, you need to isolate yourself from the random senses or
strings of impulse; nothing in herding together or taking food. impulses.
• The applause of tongues < • You need to stop complaining, otherwise you would get nowhere → Hardships are there
• Have and follow our own constitution. to be overcome, not complained about.
• The movement of active virtue is something divine in which it journeys on to success • Dig inside yourself.
along a path hard to understand. • “Book 7, 61”
• Do not imagine that if something is hard for you to achieve it is therefore impossible • ‘No soul’ says Plato, ‘likes to be robbed of truth.’
for any man: but rather consider anything that is humanly possible and appropriate • Pain is neither unendurable nor unending, as long as you remember it’s limit’s and do not
to lie within you reach. (Book 6, 22) exaggerate in your imagination.
• Your own self-deception and ignorance will only lead to harm. • Don’t give in to pain.
• Let your judgement take on any circumstance.
Book X
• Escape from your own vices (wickedness) instead of others.
• Do not tire of benefit gained by benefit given.
• It’s your duty and benefit to bear you own judgements.
• Things are prepared for you, now you need to catch it.
• No external cause can create something harmful for oneself. Remember.
Book VIII • Clarity of mind, attention to detail and vigorous thought will cooperative mind: willing to
• “Book 8, 1” accept things that come at your independent mind: above affection, fame, or anything.
• Let your directing mind be your master, be slaves to your ambitions. • Follow the path that God has laid for you.
• Kindness integrity and sincerity. • Don’t cheat your mind, you’ll always lose.
• No cause for fear of anything new. • Everything that has happened now has happened before and it will happen in the future.
• Don’t let anyone hear you blaming your palace life; not yourself. • When you take offence, think what wrong you did.
• Pleasure is not always beneficial. • Making sure that everyone that takes a negative view of you is a liar.
• Constantly test your mental impressions → logic, identify emotions • Nothing is fixed for eternity.
• Don’t be a failing heir. • Let your mind be the agency that starts and stops your body.
• Accept humbly; let go easily.
• Don’t let life oppress you → support yourself and endure.
• Sharp sight, wise judgement, self-control.
• Why not carry on rather than fret?
• Allow leisure, sharp communication, action, and thoughts.
• No regrets
• It’s never gods’ intention to leave my fortune up to another.
• Always aim straight to the target.

Book IX
• The sinner sins himself: the wrongdoer wrongs himself, by making himself morally bad.
• Keep your directing mind its own master.
• Health, wealth, fame – you can do it too.
• Ones virtue or vice shows not in what he feels but what he does.
• Don’t fear critics, they’re poor.
• Always leave another’s wrong at where it lies.
• Let you mind work, since it’s not working enough.
• Be content with you small steps forwards, but remover that if’s no achievement.
• If he did wrong, the harm is to himself.
• Face it, make yourself simpler and better.
• Accept things, don’t pray for them to disappear.
• Your action = you reward.