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The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

Book by Marcus Aurelius · 4 quotes · Ifs, Men, Soul

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AllIfsMenSoulFollowingKindMindUniverseAsksContraryFaultsHigherMeanMightOpinionPurposeReasonWholeWiseYour SoulAbsolutely Nothing

The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations Quotes

“If souls survive death for all eternity, how can the heavens hold them all? Or for that matter, how can the earth hold all the bodies that have been buried in it? The answers are the same. Just as on earth, with the passage of time, decaying and transmogrified corpses make way for the newly dead, so souls released into the heavens, after a season of flight, begin to break up, burn, and be absorbed back into the womb of reason, leaving room for souls just beginning to fly. This is the answer for those who believe that souls survive death.”

IfsWayBelieveHas BeensSoulMatterReasonBodyEarthDeathHeavenAnswersRoomsBreakSeasonsEternityLeavingFlightBuriedPassagesWombCorpsesPassage Of Time
Book:The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations
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“The gods have provided me with clear and compelling signs of what it means to live in conformity to nature. They did their part. So far as their gifts, aid, and inspiration are concerned, nothing prevented me from following the path prescribed by nature. If from time to time I have strayed from this path, the fault lies with me and with my failure to heed the gods' signs, or rather, their explicit instructions.”

IfsMeanInspirationLyingPathClearConcernedFaultsFollowingAidsConformityInstructionCompellingHeedExplicit
Book:The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations
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“When the sovereign spirit within us is true to nature, it stands poised and ready to adjust to every change in circumstances and to seize each new opportunity. It doesn't approach an object with prejudice or preconception, but handles each thing dispassionately before embracing it and, if necessary, finds advantage in what opposes it. It is like fire in this regard. Whereas a feeble flame might suffocate under a pile of dry sticks, a robust fire consumes everything it touches. The more objects of any kind heaped on it, the higher it rises, the hotter it burns.”

IfsKindMightSpiritOpportunityFireObjectsReadyHigherCircumstancesApproachAdvantagePrejudiceRegardSticksHandleFlamesDrySovereignRobustPreconceptionsNew OpportunityHotter
Book:The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations
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