Marcus Aurelius Quotes

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

"The wise man knows that every interaction is just the first chapter of a very long book."

"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."

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

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

"At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work—as a human being.'"

"Justice is the source of all the other virtues."

"He who has a vehement desire for posthumous fame does not consider that every one of those who remember him will himself also die very soon."

"What is necessary is not to kill the emotions, but to control them."

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it."

"The soul is dyed by the color of its thoughts."

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

"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul."

"Faith is the foundation of a virtuous life."

"The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Trust only in your own character."

"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it."

"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."

"Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside."

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

"Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbors. Anything that distracts you from fidelity to the ruler within you means a loss of opportunity."

"Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art."

"You can discard most of the junk that clutters your mind—things that exist only there—and clear out space for yourself."

"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."

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

"Always define whatever it is we perceive—to trace its outline—so we can see what it really is: its substance. Stripped bare. As a whole. Unmodified."

"To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference."

"Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging."

"Do not let the panorama of your life oppress you, do not dwell on all the various troubles which may have occurred in the past or may occur in the future. Just ask yourself in every instance of the present: 'What is there in this work which I cannot endure or support?'"

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

"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."

"Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew."

"Stop wandering about! You aren't likely to read your own notebooks, or ancient history, or the anthologies you've collected to enjoy in your old age. Get busy with life's purpose."

"Remember that your ruling reason becomes unconquerable when it rallies and relies on itself."