Marcus Aurelius on Discipline Quotes

"Confine yourself to the present."

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

"Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish."

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

"How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy."

"To continue to be the same man as you have been up to now... is to be senseless."

"Another may be more expert in casting [throwing] his opponent; but he is not more social, nor more modest, nor better disciplined to meet all that happens, nor more considerate with respect to the faults of his neighbors. VII, 52"

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

"Mastery of reading and writing requires a master. Still more so life."

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."

"The mind without passions is a fortress. No place is more secure."

"Objective judgment, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance—now, at this very moment—of all external events. That’s all you need."

"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."

"A man should stand erect, not be kept erect by others."

"How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility."

"Stick to what's in front of you—idea, action, utterance."

"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."

"Get a move on, then. Not just because you’re moving closer to death, but because your intellect and judgment can die before you do."

"Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself."

"Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been."

"From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required improvement and discipline."

"To live each day as though one's last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing – here is the perfection of character."

"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."

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

"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly."

"Dig deep; the water—goodness—is down there. And as long as you keep digging, it will keep bubbling up."

"I have to thank the gods that I wasn't brought up at my grandfather's concubine's, that I preserved the flower of my youth, and that I didn't prove my virility before the proper time."

"Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do. Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you. Sanity means tying it to your own actions."

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

"Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a friend of justice, a worshipper of the gods, kind, affectionate, strenuous in all proper acts."

"Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, free from affectation, a friend of justice, a worshiper of the gods, kind, affectionate, strenuous in all proper work."

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