Marcus Aurelius Quotes

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

To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony

Whatever anyone does or says, I must be good

Waste no more time talking about what a good man is. Be one

Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant: all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed

In every event consider what precedes and what follows, and approach it with reason

The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.

Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which is remembered

Our life is what our thoughts make it

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, seashores, and mountains; and you too are wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men; for it is in your power whenever you shall choose to retire into yourself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul

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

A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there

Live not as though you were going to live a thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting

The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around them. That’s all you need to know. Do not ask, 'Why does such stuff exist in the world?'

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

Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go

He who does not observe the movements of his own mind must of necessity be unhappy

To understand the true quality of people, you must look into their minds, and examine their pursuits and aversions

Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you

Do not act as if you are going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

When you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, remember: your purpose is to lead a good, productive life, not to indulge in pleasure and comfort

Receive without pride, let go without attachment

Accept humbly whatever comes your way

Each day provides its own gifts

Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets

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

What we do now echoes in eternity

Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored. Dying or busy with other assignments. Because dying, too, is one of our assignments in life...

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it

To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference

You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all

No man is hurt but by himself

Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already

How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly

You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness

If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining

Everything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early nor too late, which is in due time for you

What does not benefit the hive, does not benefit the bee

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it

Do not be carried along blindly by the force of circumstance, but rather direct activity with reason

If it is in your control, why do you do it? If it is not in your control, why do you worry about it?

When someone does you wrong, you must see that he acted from a mistaken opinion. It is your job to forgive and correct him, as you would a child

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it

Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you

Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbors, unless with a view to some mutual benefit

Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom yourself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are and to make new things like them

Do not hanker after what you do not have; instead, fix your attentions on the finest and best that you have, and imagine how much you would long for these if they weren't in your possession

It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own

Consider yourself dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy

The universe is change; life is opinion

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too

If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now

Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live

Do not be perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universe, and in a little while you will be nobody and nowhere

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

If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed

Whatever happens to you is for the good of the world. That would be enough right there. But if you look closely, you’ll generally find it’s for your good too

If you are doing your proper duty, let it not matter to you whether you are cold or warm, if you are drowsy or satisfied with sleep, if you are ill or have met with praise or blame... if you are dying or doing something else. For even this belongs to one of the acts of life; and it is sufficient for you to do this well

No one can lose either the past or the future—how could anyone be deprived of what he does not possess?

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

Nothing happens to anyone that he is not fitted by nature to bear

Do not imagine that if something is hard for you to accomplish, it is beyond human ability; but if anything is possible and proper for a man, consider it attainable by you

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts

Be straightforward, not blunt

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

The universe is transformation; life is opinion

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.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it

The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don’t

The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it

So other people hurt me? That’s their problem. Their character and actions are not mine.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth

Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and around it the seething waters are laid to rest

The whole contains nothing which is not in accordance with it, and all things are fashioned as the whole wishes

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

Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back

All is ephemeral—fame and the famous as well

Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts

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

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it

Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight

Whatever arises in life, accept it; even if it seems harsh, for what can be more suitable to you than what is assigned by the nature of the whole

Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life

A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something

Frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe

Everything—body, soul, intelligence—is derived from the same source, and returns there

Begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial

Consider that before long you will be nobody and nowhere, nor will anything which you now behold, nor any of those who are now alive

Receive without conceit, release without struggle

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

At every hour, give your full concentration, as if this present task is your last in life

Do not be ashamed of help

A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something

That which is not good for the bee, neither is it good for the hive

Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly

Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life

You are a little soul carrying around a corpse, as Epictetus used to say

Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it

Bear in mind that everything that exists is already fraying at the edges and in transition, subject to decay and dissolution

Never regard something as doing you good if it makes you betray a trust, or lose your sense of shame, or makes you show hatred, suspicion, ill-will, or hypocrisy, or a desire for things best done behind closed doors

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts

Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul

When you have assumed these names—good, modest, truthful, rational, a man of equanimity and magnanimity—take care that you do not change these names; and if you should lose them, quickly return to them

Look at the stars lighting up the sky: no one of them stays in the same place

All is ephemeral—fame and the famous as well.

The soul of man does violence to itself when it becomes an abscess, as it were, and grows apart, wishing for what is unattainable or fleeing from what is inevitable

Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbors, unless with a view to some mutual benefit

The best way to avenge yourself is to not become like the wrongdoer

Life is opinion

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it

If anyone can show me and prove to me that I am wrong in thought or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone. The harm is to persist in one’s own self-deception and ignorance

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

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

Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours

Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so

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

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live

Let each thing you would do, say, or intend be like that of a dying person

How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life

Receive without pride, let go without attachment

It is not the actions of others which trouble us, but rather it is our own judgments

Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

To do harm is to do yourself harm. To do an injustice is to do yourself an injustice—it degrades you

If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after

What injures the hive, injures the bee

Live not as though you were going to live a thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good

The best way of avenging yourself is not to become like the wrongdoer

How quickly all things disappear, in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the memory of them

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

Poverty is the mother of crime

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.

Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself

What is not good for the hive is not good for the bee

To understand the true quality of people, you must look into their minds, and examine their pursuits and aversions

How soon will time cover all things, and how many it has covered already

Perfection of character: to live your last day, every day, without frenzy, or sloth, or pretense

Do not suppose you are hurt, and you have not been

When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances, revert at once to yourself, and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep going back to it

Whatever anyone does or says, I must be good

The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away

Confine yourself to the present

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

The best way to defend yourself is not to resemble the wrongdoer