Marcus Aurelius Quotes

619 quotes in 4760 categories

• Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.
• Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.
• Today I escaped all circumstance, or rather I cast out all circumstance, for it was not outside me, but within my judgements.
• When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do towards other humans.
• 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…
• 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…
• A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.
• A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.
• Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.
• And in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of…
• ‎"Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial
• The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control;…
• The world is mere change, and this life, opinion.
• It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's…
• Never forget that the universe is a single living organism possessed of one substance and one soul, holding all things suspended in a single consciousness…
• 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…
• 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…
• Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.
• Do not be ashamed of help.
• Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.

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