--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But this is altogether a mark of the most…" description: "\"But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.\" — Marcus Aurelius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg" --- # But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of… ![“But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.” quote by Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg) > “But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.” [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. One can control inner life by withdrawing from external distractions and reflecting inwardly. **In simple terms:** Control your mind by turning inward. Key Takeaway Practice regular self‑reflection. Themes self‑control inner peace philosophy Mood calm reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - stressful work - personal crisis - decision making - creative blocks Key Concepts Stoicism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How often do you retreat into yourself? - What benefits arise from mindful withdrawal? A Different Perspective May lead to isolation if not balanced with external engagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) [Self determination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-determination/) [Self esteem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-esteem/) [You choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-choose/) ## Related quotes > [For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/for-it-is-in-your-power-to-retire-into-yourself-whenever-you-choose/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/retire-into-thyself-the-rational-principle-which-rules-has-this/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Science promised man power. But, as so often happens when people are seduced by promises of power, the price is servitude and impotence. Power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-weizenbaum/science-promised-man-power-but-as-so-often-happens-when-people-are/) [Joseph Weizenbaum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-weizenbaum/) > [We have the power to choose, moment by moment, who and how we want to be in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-bolte-taylor/we-have-the-power-to-choose-moment-by-moment-who-and-how-we-want-to/) [Jill Bolte Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-bolte-taylor/) > [“You have the power to choose joyful living through your thoughts, actions, and choices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/you-have-the-power-to-choose-joyful-living-through-your-thoughts/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [Welcome to the free world. We give people the power to choose. They can even choose the wrong thing. Beautiful, isn't it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/welcome-to-the-free-world-we-give-people-the-power-to-choose-they-can/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-the-power-to-choose-what-you-want-to-do-and-do-it-well-take-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Relationships are never about power, and one way to avoid the will to power is to choose to limit oneself- to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/relationships-are-never-about-power-and-one-way-to-avoid-the-will-to-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/so-i-guess-we-are-who-we-are-for-a-lot-of-reasons-and-maybe-we-ll/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/this-life-is-yours-take-the-power-to-choose-what-you-want-to-do-and/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [You have the power to choose who you want to be. Be the grandest, greatest, and the best that you can be. By rN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rahul/you-have-the-power-to-choose-who-you-want-to-be-be-the-grandest/) [Rahul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rahul/) > [“But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-even-if-we-don-t-have-the-power-to-choose-where-we-come-from-we-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-clement-stone/you-always-do-what-you-want-to-do-this-is-true-with-every-act-you-may/) [W. Clement Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-clement-stone/) > [“But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from we can still choose where we go from there. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/but-even-if-we-don-t-have-the-power-to-choose-where-we-come-from-we/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [We start to die when we no longer have the power to choose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavian-paler/we-start-to-die-when-we-no-longer-have-the-power-to-choose/) [Octavian Paler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavian-paler/) ## More by Marcus Aurelius > [A man should be upright, not kept upright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/a-man-should-be-upright-not-kept-upright/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Everything is mere opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/everything-is-mere-opinion/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [If any man has done wrong, the harm is his own. But perhaps he has not done wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-any-man-has-done-wrong-the-harm-is-his-own-but-perhaps-he-has-not/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/pray-look-upon-the-plants-and-birds-the-ants-spiders-and-bees-and-you/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [My true Self is free. I cannot be contained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/my-true-self-is-free-i-cannot-be-contained/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/the-best-revenge-is-to-be-unlike-him-who-performed-the-injury/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Nothing befalls any man which he is not fitted to endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/nothing-befalls-any-man-which-he-is-not-fitted-to-endure/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The poet says that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/adorn-thyself-with-simplicity-and-with-indifference-towards-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/let-it-be-your-constant-method-to-look-into-the-design-of-people-s/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“Our life is a warfare, and a mere pilgrimage.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/our-life-is-a-warfare-and-a-mere-pilgrimage/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“If therefore it be a thing external that causes thy grief, know, that it is not that properly that doth cause it, but thine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/if-therefore-it-be-a-thing-external-that-causes-thy-grief-know-that/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Frightened of change? But what can exist without it? What's closer to nature's heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/frightened-of-change-but-what-can-exist-without-it-what-s-closer-to/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-are-too-much-accustomed-to-attribute-to-a-single-cause-that-which/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work - as a human being. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/at-dawn-when-you-have-trouble-getting-out-of-bed-tell-yourself-i-have/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) [Explore all 1,138 Marcus Aurelius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcus Aurelius" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-most-common-sort-of-men-for-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-most-common-sort-of-men-for-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad2/marcus-aurelius-139_independence_but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-mos_1695560.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in your power whenever you choose to…” — Marcus Aurelius", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Marcus Aurelius", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But this is altogether a mark...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-most-common-sort-of-men-for-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/but-this-is-altogether-a-mark-of-the-most-common-sort-of-men-for-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```