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)
Tag: Marcus Aurelius
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)
The first rule is, to keep an untroubled spirit; for all things must bow to Nature’s law, and soon enough you must vanish into nothingness, like Hadrian and Augustus.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are, remembering that it is your duty to be a good man. Do without flinching what man’s nature demands; say what seems to you most just – though with courtesy, modesty and sincerity.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (8.5)
Image: Andrew Munro: young Marcus Aurelius, bust from Temple of Flora, Stourhead Gardens, Wiltshire
Finally arrived today.
I’ve just read the introduction and already I’m hooked.
The must-read shelf has been bullied into submission.
Perfection of character: to live your last day, every day, without frenzy, or sloth, or pretence.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.59)
Note, unusually, I’ve taken the above from the Gregory Hays translation. My more usual Maxwell Staniforth translation has…
To live each day as though one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinising – here is the perfection of character.
Here’s a wide-ranging Weekend Watch (well, more of a listen actually).
In this podcast from High Existence, writer, psychotherapist and Stoic Donald Robertson talks about mental health, cognitive behavioural therapy, Stoicism, Buddhism, philosophy and more.
Continue reading “Stoicism as Preventative Psychological Medicine – @DonJRobertson”Losing your temper is a sign of weakness, they say. It’s not great for your health, either. Or, for those around you.
Writing about a Stoic approach to anger, author, stoic and cognitive psychotherapist Donald Robertson recalls the emperor Hadrian (not a Stoic):
Continue reading “May I have my eye back? – Stoicism and anger”Love nothing but that which comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny. For what could more aptly fit your needs?
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (7.57)