Marcus Aurelius Quotes

“Today I escaped all circumstance, or rather I cast out all circumstance, for it was not outside me, but within my judgements.”

“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.”

“The mind which is free from passions is a citadel, for man has nothing more secure to which he can fly for refuge and for the future be inexpugnable . He then who has not seen this is an ignorant man: but he who has seen it and does not fly to this refuge is unhappy.”

“Can we wonder that men perish and are forgotten, when their noblest and most enduring works decay? Death comes even to monumental structures, and oblivion rests on the most illustrious names.”

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

“You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you. Things can't shape our decisions by themselves.”

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

“No one can keep you from living as your nature requires. Nothings can happen to you that is not required by Nature.”

“That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before.”

“Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, than your everlasting readers.”

“Look deeply. Don't miss the inherent quality and value of everything.”

“How easy it is to repel and release every impression which is troublesome and immediately to be tranquil.”

“Suppose that men kill thee, cut thee in pieces, curse thee, what can these things do to prevent thy mind from remaining pure, wise, sober, just?”

“You should banish any thoughts of how you may appear to others.”

“Man is born for deeds of kindness.”

“Cinna wishes to seem poor, and is poor”

“There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his deathbed won't hail the occasion with delight.”

“Blot out vain pomp; check impulse; quench appetite; keep reason under its own control.”

“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?”

“Nature which governs the whole will soon change all things which you see, and out of their substance will make other things and again other things... in order that the world may be ever new.”

“Give yourself a gift: the present moment.”

“My only fear is doing something contrary to human nature - the wrong thing, the wrong way, or at the wrong time.”

“When you are annoyed at someone's mistake, immediately look at yourself and reflect how you also fail; for example, in thinking that good equals money, or pleasure, or a bit of fame. By being mindful of this you'll quickly forget your anger, especially if you realize that the person was under stress, and could do little else. And, if you can, find a way to alleviate that stress.”

“Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.”

“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 as it was? Eat food without transforming it? Can any vital process take place without something being changed? Can't you see? It's just the same with you - and just as vital to nature.”