Quotes by Marcus Aurelius

"The art of living is discovering that the canvas of tomorrow is painted with the actions of today."

"Everything is only for a day, both that which remembers and that which isremembered."

"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."

"Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life."

"Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live."

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last."

"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."

"Our life is what our thoughts make it."

"Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil."

"The universe is change our life is what our thoughts make it."

"Wisdom principle added 2 tells us that life is lesson 2."

"Wisdom principle added 1 tells us that life is lesson 1."

"Wisdom principle added 0 tells us that life is lesson 0."

"Wisdom principle 89 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 48."

"Wisdom principle 79 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 42."

"Wisdom principle 59 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 30."

"Wisdom principle 54 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 27."

"Wisdom principle 14 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 3."

"Wisdom principle 8 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 100."

"Wisdom principle 3 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 97."

"It is a quiet truth that when you master your attention, you master your entire perception of reality — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"To master the mind is to understand that a single moment of clarity can change a lifetime."

"Some things are hurrying into existence, and others are hurrying out of it; and of that which is coming into existence part is already extinguished."

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

"A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions."

"Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig."

"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 it is practicable and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself."

"To refrain from imitation is the best revenge."

"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury."

"Wisdom principle added 3 tells us that life is lesson 3."

"Wisdom principle 99 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 54."

"Wisdom principle 74 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 39."

"Wisdom principle 64 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 33."

"Wisdom principle 49 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 24."

"Wisdom principle 19 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 6."

"It is a profound truth that he who reads widely and ponders deeply builds an unshakeable inner citadel — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The greatest deception is forgetting that the journey is far more important than the destination."

"“A cucumber is bitter.” Throw it away. “There are briars in the road.” Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, “And why were such things made in the world?”"

"Wisdom principle 104 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 57."

"Wisdom principle 94 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 51."

"Wisdom principle 84 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 45."

"Wisdom principle 69 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 36."

"Wisdom principle 44 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 21."

"Wisdom principle 39 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 18."

"Wisdom principle 34 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 15."

"Wisdom principle 29 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 12."

"Wisdom principle 24 tells us that the journey of life is lesson 9."

"Nature teaches us a valuable lesson: the truest form of bravery is vulnerability."

"Nothing is evil which is according to nature."

"Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear."

"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away."

"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away."

"Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear."

"Whatever the universal nature assigns to any man at any time is for the good of that man at that time."

"Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else."

"Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to make new things like them."

"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one."

"Confine yourself to the present."

"How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks."

"You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long."

"Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'"

"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."

"I have often wondered how it is that every man loveshimself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others."

"Take away your opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, “I have been harmed.” Take away the complaint, “I have been harmed,” and the harm is taken away."

"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 it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself."

"That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees."

"The true measure of a man is hope is the anchor of a weary soul."

"The best way of avenging yourself is not to become like the wrongdoer."

"I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others."

"Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig."

"Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts."

"Men exist for the sake of one another."

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."

"When thou art above measure angry, bethink thee how momentary is man's life."

"Anger cannot be dishonest."

"How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it."

"A humble soul understands that a single moment of clarity can change a lifetime."

"Is any man afraid of change? Why what can take place without change? What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature?"

"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight."

"How strangely men act. They will not praise those who are living at the same time and living with themselves; but to be themselves praised by posterity, by those whom they have never seen or ever will see, this they set much value on."

"We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne."

"The harmony of the universe dictates that the melody of life is composed of both highs and lows."

"The sexual embrace can only be compared with music and with prayer."

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."

"Be content with what you are, and wish not change nor dread your last day, nor long for it."

"Very little is needed to make a happy life it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."

"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."

"The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious."

"Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle."

"Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live."

"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."

"Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets, and from the vagaries of the mind, and from the hard service of the flesh."

"A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires."

"There is nothing happens to any person but what was in his power to go through with."

"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too."

"The simplest truths often reveal that a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles."

"Tomorrow is nothing, today is too late the good lived yesterday."

"Aptitude found in the understanding and is often inherited. Genius coming from reason and imagination, rarely."

"When ambition meets humility, we find that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

"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."

"The greatest deception is forgetting that kindness can heal wounds that time cannot."

"Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability."

"Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain again begin this, and thou wilt have finished."

"He who seeks peace must remember that the most profound truths are found in silence."

"To live happily is an inward power of the soul."

"He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe."

"The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing."

"Death, like birth, is a secret of Nature."

"Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also."