Quotes by Marcus Aurelius

“A man should always have these two rules in readiness. First, to do only what the reason of your ruling and legislating faculties suggest for the service of man. Second, to change your opinion when...”

“Nothing is more scandalous than a man that is proud of his humility.”

“Will any man despise me? Let him see to it. But I will see to it that I may not be found doing or saying anything that deserves to be despised.”

“Even the least of our activities ought to have some end in view.”

“For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.”

“What am I but a little flesh, a little breath, and the thinking part that rules the whole?”

“III. I have often wondered how it should come to pass, that every man loving himself best, should more regard other men's opinions concerning himself than his own. For if any God or grave master st...”

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”

“All things fade into the storied past, and in a little while are shrouded in oblivion.”

“Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its p...”

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”

“How good it is, when you have roast meat or suchlike foods before you, to impress on your mind that this is the dead body of a fish, this the dead body of a bird or pig.”

“It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.”

“All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.”

“What need of prompt or hint when it is open to yourself to discern what needs to be done - and, if you can see your way, to follow it with kind but undeviating intent. If you cannot see the way, ho...”

“The universe is flux, life is opinion.”

“Never let the future disturb you - you will meet it with the same weapons of reason and mind that, today, guard you against the present...”

“Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yo...”

“Live every day as if they last.”

“If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.”