Skip to content

Philosopher

Last reviewed:

Marcus Aurelius

121–180 CE · Stoicism · Ancient

Part of:Stoicism in 5 steps →

Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180, and the Meditations are notes he wrote to himself in Greek, on campaign. He did not publish them. The philosophy is Stoic, learned in part from Epictetus, whom he thanks by name. He reminds himself that other people's rudeness is expected and not a reason to abandon cooperation, that the obstacle can become the material of the virtue required, that retreats to the coast are useless if the mind you bring is disordered, and that life, in the sense that matters, is the judgement you assent to.

Read more

Gregory Hays's 2002 translation made him sound like a contemporary, which is why so many lines now circulate in Hays's cadence. George Long in 1862, and A. S. L. Farquharson later, stay closer to the Greek and sound stiffer. Neither is 'the original English', because the original is Greek. Marcus also persecuted Christians and fought long wars.

The notes do not cancel the reign, and the reign does not cancel the notes. They are a man refusing his own excuses, often in a single sentence that is really the end of a paragraph.

Start here

Meditations 2.1 and 4.3, in a named translation, read to the end of each note.

The famous sentences are the beginnings of paragraphs, and the paragraphs contain the limits.

Quotations

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

Marcus Aurelius · Stoicism

resiliencechangemind
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application
“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they cannot tell good from evil.”

Marcus Aurelius · Stoicism

ethicssocietymind
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one.”

Marcus Aurelius · Stoicism

virtueethicsself
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application
“People seek retreats for themselves, in the country, by the sea, in the hills. But this is altogether unphilosophical, when you can at any moment retreat into yourself.”

Marcus Aurelius · Stoicism

mindselfhappiness
Paraphrase or translation
Meaning & application

Key ideas

  • The present act

    The good is the action in front of you, done justly, as if there may not be a later hour in which to repair it.

  • Other people

    He prepares for meddling and arrogance, and then insists that rational beings still exist for cooperation.

  • Judgement

    The universe is change, and the quality of a life is the quality of the judgements it accepts.

  • The inner retreat

    A change of scenery does not quiet a disordered mind; the available retreat is attention to one's own governing faculty.

Major works

  • Meditations (c. 170–180 CE)

    Private notes in Greek, traditionally in twelve books, not a work he prepared for readers.

Influences

Influenced

  • Early modern Neostoicism

Common misreadings

  • Hays's English is a translation with a voice, not a transparent window onto the Greek.
  • 'The obstacle is the way' is a rendering of 5.20, not a promise that the original plan will succeed.

Topic hubs

Famous lines Marcus Aurelius never said

None of the lines this library files for Marcus Aurelius is marked Questionable or Misattributed. That is only a fact about these cards. It is not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.

FAQ

What is the best book to start with?

Meditations 2.1 and 4.3, in a named translation, read to the end of each note. The famous sentences are the beginnings of paragraphs, and the paragraphs contain the limits.

What is the most famous quote?

This library does not measure fame, and it does not rank lines by how often they are shared. The first line it files for Marcus Aurelius that is not marked Questionable or Misattributed is “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” (Meditations 5.20, in Gregory Hays's translation (2002), Paraphrase or translation).

What is the most misquoted line?

None of the lines this library files for Marcus Aurelius is marked Misattributed or Questionable. That is a fact about these cards, not a certificate that every popular sentence is theirs.

What is one key idea, in a sentence?

The present act: The good is the action in front of you, done justly, as if there may not be a later hour in which to repair it.