Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor who is considered one of the most important thinkers of his time. His thoughts on life, death, and everything in between continue to resonate with people today.
He left behind a significant body of work, including the Meditations which are a series of philosophical reflections on life, death, and the nature of existence. In honor of his legacy, we’ve compiled a list of 49 of his best quotes on everything from life and death to happiness and wisdom. Enjoy!
Enjoy these quotes by Marcus Aurelius…
1) “It’s a disgrace in this life when the soul surrenders first while the body refuses to.”
2) “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.”
3) “It’s all in how you perceive it. You’re in control. You can dispense with misperception at will, like rounding the point.”
4) “You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.”
5) “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
6) “The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”
7) “You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.”
8) “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.”
9) “Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”
Dwell on the beauty of life…
10) “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
11) “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
12) “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
13) “Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.”
14) “You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you.”
15) “How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.”
16) “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.”
17) “If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”
18) “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
19) “Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.”
Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Life and Death
20) “Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.”
21) “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
22) “To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.”
23) “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.”
24) “The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.”
25) “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.”
26) “No man can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.”
27) “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.”
28) “Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.”
29) “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
Always seek the truth…
30) “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. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
31) “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”
32) “Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill… I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together.”
33) “Life is short – the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.”
34) “It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.”
35) “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
36) “Everything that happens, happens as it should, and if you observe carefully you will find this to be so.”
37) “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”
38) “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
39) “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.”
Marcus Aurelius Quotes from Meditations
40) “To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”
41) “It’s unfortunate that this has happened. No. It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed.”
42) “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
43) “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
44) “We live only now. Everything else is either passed or is unknown.”
45) “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…”
46) “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?”
47) “Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.”
48) “Think of all the years passed by in which you said to yourself “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and how the gods have again and again granted you periods of grace of which you have not availed yourself. It is time to realize that you are a member of the Universe, that you are born of Nature itself, and to know that a limit has been set to your time. Use every moment wisely, to perceive your inner refulgence, or ’twill be gone and nevermore within your reach.”
49) “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
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