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Meditations

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, detailing his thoughts on Stoic practice, self-improvement, and the nature of the universe. more

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Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius, born in 121 AD and died in 180 AD, was an emperor of the Roman Empire. He is one of the Five Good Emperors and is known for his philosophical thoughts and the stability of his reign. He was not only an outstanding politician but also a famous Stoic philosopher, whose work 'Meditations' has had a profound impact on later generations. more

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“What then, will a little fame distract you? Look at the speed of universal oblivion, the gulf of immeasurable time both before and after, the vacuity of applause, the indiscriminate fickleness of your apparent supporters, the tiny room in which all this is confined. The whole earth is a mere point in space: what a minute cranny within this is your own habitation, and how many and what sort will sing your praises here!”

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“Look at the thousands of flocks and herds, the thousands of human ceremonies, every sort of voyage in storm or calm, the range of creation, combination, and extinction. Consider too the lives once lived by others long before you, the lives that will be lived after you, the lives lived now among foreign tribes; and how many have never even heard your name, how many will very soon forget it, how many may praise you now but quickly turn to blame. Reflect that neither memory nor fame, nor anything else at all, has any importance worth thinking of.”

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“You know, then, that the public Somebody you are when you “have a name” is a fiction created with mirrors and that the only somebody worth being is the solitary and unseen you that existed from your first breath and which is the sum of your actions and so is constantly in a state of becoming under your own volition — and knowing these things, you can even survive the catastrophe of Success!”

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Book:The Catastrophe of Success
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“So discard all else and secure these few things only. remind yourself too that each of us lives only in the present moment, a mere fragment of time; the rest is life past or uncertain future. Sure, life is a small thing, and small the cranny of the earth in which we live it; small too even the longest fame thereafter, which is itself subject to a succession of little men who will quickly die, and have no knowledge event of themselves, let alone of those long dead.”

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“Your children are no more than ‘leaves’. ‘Leaves’ too these loud voices of loyal praise, these curses from your opponents, this silent blame of mockery: mere ‘leaves’ likewise those with custody of your future fame. All these ‘come round in the season of spring’: but then the wind blows them down, and the forest ‘puts out others’ in their stead. All things are short-lived – this is their common lot – but you pursue likes and dislikes as if all was fixed for eternity. In a little while you too will close your eyes, and soon there will be others mourning the man who buries you.”

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