Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Every man is worth just so much as the things about which he busies himself.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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

~ Marcus Aurelius

It is not the actions of others which trouble us (for those actions are controlled by their governing part), but rather it is our own judgments. Therefore remove those judgments and resolve to let go of your anger, and it will already be gone. How do you let go? By realizing that such actions are not shameful to you.

~ Marcus Aurelius

A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.

~ Marcus Aurelius

That all is as thinking makes it so – and you control your thinking. So remove your judgements whenever you wish and then there is calm - as the sailor rounding the cape finds smooth water and the welcome of a waveless bay.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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

~ Marcus Aurelius

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.

~ Marcus Aurelius

A man should always have these two rules in readiness. First, to do only what the reason of your ruling and legislating faculties suggest for the service of man. Second, to change your opinion whenever anyone at hand sets you right and unsettles you in an opinion, but this change of opinion should come only because you are persuaded that something is just or to the public advantage, not because it appears pleasant or increases your reputation.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Nothing is more scandalous than a man that is proud of his humility.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Will any man despise me? Let him see to it. But I will see to it that I may not be found doing or saying anything that deserves to be despised.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.

~ Marcus Aurelius

How good it is, when you have roast meat or suchlike foods before you, to impress on your mind that this is the dead body of a fish, this the dead body of a bird or pig.

~ Marcus Aurelius

The universe is flux, life is opinion.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Never let the future disturb you - you will meet it with the same weapons of reason and mind that, today, guard you against the present...

~ Marcus Aurelius

Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: 'What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?' You would be ashamed to confess it! And then remind yourself that it is not the future or what has passed that afflicts you, but always the present, and the power of this is much diminished if you take it in isolation and call your mind to task if it thinks that it cannot stand up to it when taken on its own.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Live every day as if they last.

~ Marcus Aurelius

If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Maximus was my model for self-control, fixity of purpose, and cheerfulness under ill-health or other misfortunes. His character was an admirable combination of dignity and charm, and all the duties of his station were performed quietly and without fuss. He gave everyone the conviction that he spoke as he believed, and acted as he judged right. Bewilderment or timidity were unknown to him; he was never hasty, never dilatory; nothing found him at a loss. He indulged neither in despondency nor forced gaiety, nor had anger or jealousy any power over him. Kindliness, sympathy, and sincerity all contributed to give the impression of a rectitude that was innate rather than inculcated. Nobody was ever made by him to feel inferior, yet none could have presumed to challenge his pre-eminence. He was also the possessor of an agreeable sense of humour.

~ Marcus Aurelius

A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.

~ Marcus Aurelius

When you are disturbed by events and lose your serenity, quickly return to yourself and don't stay upset longer than the experience lasts; for you'll have more mastery over your inner harmony by continually returning to it.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.

~ Marcus Aurelius

The pride which is proud of want of pride is the most intolerable of all.

~ Marcus Aurelius

There’s nothing more insufferable than people who boast about their own humility

~ Marcus Aurelius

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world? neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility. . . .

~ Marcus Aurelius

Take full account of what Excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Think not so much of what you lack as of what you have: but of the things that you have, select the best, and then reflect on how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Be like a rocky promontory against which the restless surf continually pounds; it stands fast while the churning sea is lulled to sleep at its feet. I hear you say, How unlucky that this should happen to me! Not at all! Say instead, How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened and am not afraid of what is about to happen. The same blow might have struck anyone, but not many would have absorbed it without capitulation or complaint.

~ Marcus Aurelius

Be your own master, and look at things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal creature.

~ Marcus Aurelius

What am I but a little flesh, a little breath, and the thinking part that rules the whole?

~ Marcus Aurelius

Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion.

~ Marcus Aurelius

It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.

~ Marcus Aurelius

All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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

~ Marcus Aurelius

It is in your own power to maintain the beauty of your soul, or to be a decent human being.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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; but as if thou wast now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer be either dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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

~ Marcus Aurelius

The man of ambition thinks to find his good in the operations of others, the man of pleasure in his own sensations, but the man of understanding in his own actions.

~ Marcus Aurelius

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

~ Marcus Aurelius

As far as you can, get into the habit of asking yourself in relation to any action taken by another: What is his point of reference here? But begin with yourself: examine yourself first.

~ Marcus Aurelius