In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his senses a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapours; life, a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (2.17)
Principles can only lose their vitality when the first impressions from which they derive have sunk into extinction; and it is for you to keep fanning these continually into new flame… You have only to see things once more in the light of your first and earlier vision, and life begins anew.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.2)
How many whose praises used to be sung so loudly are now relegated to oblivion; and how many of the singers themselves have long since passed from our sight!
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.6)
In the constitution of a rational being, I find no virtue implanted for the combating of justice, but I do find self-control implanted for the combating of pleasure.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (8.39)
All Compositions of Matter fly off apace to the common stock and Receptacle: Spirits are quickly swallow’d up in the Soul of the Universe, and so is Memory and Fame in the Gulph of Time.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.10)
The above comes from this 1726 translation of Meditations…
The “Soul of the Universe” and the “Gulph of Time” are maybe more evocative than the more recent version from Gregory Hays:
All substance is soon absorbed into nature, all that animates it soon restored to the logos, all trace of them both soon covered over by time.
Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way and founder of The Daily Stoic, talks about his personal introduction to Stoicism.
Drawing on his favourite verses from Meditations, he shows the commonsense, its real-world application of Stoicism. It’s not for “turtle-necked professors”, it’s for the man in the street.
If you’re curious, this is a great place to start…
In talk, mark carefully what is being said, and when action is afoot, what is being done. In the latter case, look at once to see what is purposed; and in the other, make certain what is meant.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.4)
How is my soul’s helmsman going about his task? For in that lies everything. All else, within my control or beyond it, is dead bones and vapour.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (12.33)
Highly recommended!
This week, I finished Donald Robertson’s new book How To Think Like a Roman Emperor. And, what a remarkable book it is.
It succeeds in being a practical introduction to Stoicism whilst combining biography, history, psychotherapy and philosophy. Each chapter uses a period in Marcus’s life to illustrate an issue, for example, conquering desire or relinquishing fear. It describes Marcus’s situation, then demonstrates Stoic exercises that deal with the topic in question.
Continue reading “Now thinking like a Roman emperor – @DonJRobertson”Give it the whole of your attention, whether it be a material object, an action, a principle, or the meaning of what is being said.
This disappointment serves you right. You would rather hope for goodness tomorrow than practise it today.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (8.22)