--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you do everything as if it were the…" description: "\"If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/marcus-aurelius-139_emotion_if-you-do-everything-as-if-it-were-the-l_1035826.jpg" --- # If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were… ![“If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.” quote by Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/marcus-aurelius-139_emotion_if-you-do-everything-as-if-it-were-the-l_1035826.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/marcus-aurelius-139_emotion_if-you-do-everything-as-if-it-were-the-l_1035826.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/marcus-aurelius-139_emotion_if-you-do-everything-as-if-it-were-the-l_1035826.jpg) > “If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.” [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. Live each action with full presence, guided by reason, avoiding emotional excess and selfishness. **In simple terms:** Act purposefully, guided by mind, not fleeting feelings. Key Takeaway Align daily deeds with rational purpose. Themes mindfulness self‑discipline purpose humility Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal decision - leadership - conflict resolution - stress management Key Concepts Stoicism ethical living self‑control Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance reason with healthy emotion? - What habits help you stay purposeful? A Different Perspective Pure rational focus may ignore necessary emotional insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Hypocritical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocritical/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Letting Emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-emotions-1088125/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self centered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-centered/) [Stop Aimless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-aimless-2391939/) [Stop Hypocritical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-hypocritical-1934843/) [Stop Letting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop-letting-380227/) ## Related quotes > [“5. Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/5-concentrate-every-minute-like-a-roman-like-a-man-on-doing-what-s-in/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“We preach FREEDOM, not silenced slavery. Stop being a hypocritical element. Do to others what you can accept yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olawale-daniel/we-preach-freedom-not-silenced-slavery-stop-being-a-hypocritical/) [Olawale Daniel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olawale-daniel/) > [I learned to stop letting my emotions fuel immature behavior. Being an adult is about being able to CONTROL yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-learned-to-stop-letting-my-emotions-fuel-immature-behavior-being-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm mostly a quiet person by nature and don't like letting my emotions come out on the field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/smriti-mandhana/i-m-mostly-a-quiet-person-by-nature-and-don-t-like-letting-my/) [Smriti Mandhana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/smriti-mandhana/) > [“It might not be pleasant for the listener, it might disempower and unsettle the witness to a breakdown, but crying was good. Crying was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/it-might-not-be-pleasant-for-the-listener-it-might-disempower-and/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [But it's no good letting your emotions get the better of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-meaden/but-it-s-no-good-letting-your-emotions-get-the-better-of-you/) [Deborah Meaden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-meaden/) > [Feeling cheap isn't the price of your worth: its just the phrase of the words that is being express after feeling regrets of letting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simphiwe/feeling-cheap-isn-t-the-price-of-your-worth-its-just-the-phrase-of/) [Simphiwe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simphiwe/) > [“Letting emotions go clouds judgment for a moment, but holding them in clouds it always.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/letting-emotions-go-clouds-judgment-for-a-moment-but-holding-them-in/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [“Crying was an acceptable outlet, even if it made you feel raw and empty inside, it was still better than that build up of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/crying-was-an-acceptable-outlet-even-if-it-made-you-feel-raw-and-2/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [“Instead of letting our emotions run amok, we can use our minds as tools to build or create realities that serve us better”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-woodman/instead-of-letting-our-emotions-run-amok-we-can-use-our-minds-as/) [Jay Woodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-woodman/) > [Crying was an acceptable outlet, even if it made you feel raw and empty inside, it was still better than that build up of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/crying-was-an-acceptable-outlet-even-if-it-made-you-feel-raw-and/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [“Resist nothing. Like the Tibetan monk who once told me that he found peace by saying yes to all that happened. I met him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/founderzen/resist-nothing-like-the-tibetan-monk-who-once-told-me-that-he-found/) [Founderzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/founderzen/) > [“Peace is letting it be. Letting life flow, letting emotions flow through you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-ravikant/peace-is-letting-it-be-letting-life-flow-letting-emotions-flow/) [Kamal Ravikant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-ravikant/) > [Part of the problem with America is that letting go of emotions is viewed as a weakness, but it's my strength. That enabled me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/part-of-the-problem-with-america-is-that-letting-go-of-emotions-is/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [“I’ve learned how important it is for me to rule my emotions instead of letting my emotions rule me. While I don’t always do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrystal-evans-hurst/i-ve-learned-how-important-it-is-for-me-to-rule-my-emotions-instead/) [Chrystal Evans Hurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrystal-evans-hurst/) ## 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 Emotion quotes > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) [Marlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlin/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [“Emotion as well as reason belongs to the very stuff of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-smalley/emotion-as-well-as-reason-belongs-to-the-very-stuff-of-history/) [Beryl Smalley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-smalley/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) [Ryan Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-newman/) > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them. They may forget what you said, but they will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/there-cannot-be-any-communication-except-through-form-if-there-is-no/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. 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