Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Finished July 4, 2026

A nice quick read full of generally good ideas. I started with a physical version and after a few pages bought a digital because there were too many passages I wanted to highlight.

With that said, I might as well let the quotes do the talking:

For this first one, while it is good advice, I picked it because when we’re talking Marcus Aurelius, you know I’m going to be looking for Maximus. And yes, I know this is not Maximus Decimus Meridius commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next but rather Claudius Maximus but I don’t care. Marcus Aurelius learned this from Maximus and that’s what’s important:

From Maximus:* to be master of oneself, and never waver in one’s resolve; to be cheerful when ill, or in any other predicament; the example of a character marked by a harmonious blend of gentleness and gravity; to set to work on the task at hand without complaint. And the confidence he inspired in everyone that what he was saying was just what he thought, and that whatever he did was done with no bad intent; never to be surprised or discontented; and never to act in haste, or hang back, or be at a loss, or be downcast, and never to fawn on others or, on the other hand, be irascible or suspicious. To be beneficent, and ready to forgive, and free from guile; to give the impression of being someone who never deviates from what is right rather than one who has to be kept on the right path; and how nobody would ever have imagined that Maximus looked down on him, or yet have presumed to suppose that he was better than Maximus; and to be of good humour.”

The note I made on this one was simply “dude telling people to go touch grass”:

Are you distracted in any way by what happens to you from outside? Then give yourself some free time to learn something new and worthwhile, and stop wandering about aimlessly.

A lot of Meditations is about distancing yourself from the opinions of others/not caring what (stupid) people say/living through your ideal example and being unbothered by naysayers and miserable people. Since one of my jobs is in a field where I ask often, “But this person is awful; why do you care what they think of you?” I ended up saving a lot of quotes to unleash on my clients, more than I’m posting here. But here are a couple good ones in that vein:

Whenever you are shocked by anyone’s wrong behaviour, ask yourself at once, ‘Is it then possible that there should be no bad people in this world?’ It is quite impossible. So you should not demand the impossible: this person is one of those bad people who must necessarily exist in the world. And keep this argument at hand for when you meet a rogue, a traitor, or any other kind of villain; for as soon as you remind yourself that the class of such persons cannot fail to exist, you will view them more kindly as individuals.

Sixthly, when you are annoyed beyond measure and losing all patience, remember that human life lasts but a moment, and that in a short while we shall all have been laid to rest.

This above quote is also a verrry common theme which basically (to me, anyway) translated as “we’re all going to die, don’t worry about it.” That dude pissed you off? Don’t waste time being mad about it, we’re all gonna die anyway. That person has riches and fame and you don’t? Don’t waste time being jealous, we’re all gonna die anyway. Don’t sweat the small stuff, we’re all going to die.

That’s not to say he’s saying we be entirely passive about this whole thing. We can accept others as they are (or in some cases, he suggests, offering correction) and accept we’re all going to die but we still owe it to ourselves to live our ideal:

It is absurd not to try to escape from one’s own wickedness, which is possible, but equally absurd to try to escape from that of others, which is impossible.

Dig within; for within you lies the fountain of good, and it can always be gushing forth if only you always dig.

No more of all this talk about what a good man should be, but simply be one!

A lot of Meditations reminded me of A Course in Miracles. This excerpt:

Do not suppose that if you personally find that something is hard to achieve, it is therefore beyond human capacity; rather, if something is possible and appropriate for human beings, assume that is must also be within your own reach.

sounded a lot like this principle in ACIM:

The first thing to remember about miracles is that there is no order of difficulty among them. One is not harder or bigger than another. They are all the same.

And then this from Meditations:

If he did wrong, the ill lies with him; but perhaps he did not.

reminded me of this from ACIM:

So does your healing show your mind is healed, and has forgiven what he did not do.

But if those principles are too lofty, there’s always this banger:

The best way to avenge yourself is not to become as they are.

So I should leave it at that but I can’t. I have to add that the version I read was the Robin Hard translation and much like Memoirs of Hadrian even though I didn’t thoroughly read the back matter, when I idly skimmed I found some really valuable stuff. I won’t bore you with things I highlighted but included in this volume were Marcus Aurelius’ letters to his…friend? teacher? beloved? master Fronto (yes, I read it as Frodo more than once) that felt COMPLETELY CONTRARY to the entirety of what I’d just read. Gone was the impassivity, the stoicism, the neutrality, the mental calmness and control.

Instead, in those letters Marcus Aurelius felt incredibly, endearingly human.

And I think that is ultimately what we’re supposed to take away from this.

Rating: “Goodbye, my—but what am I to say when whatever I say is not sufficient?—my desire, my light, my pleasure.”