Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Quotes on Man (14 Quotes)

Think often of how swiftly all things pass away and are no more the works of Nature and the works of man. The substance of the Universe, matter, is like unto a river that flows on forever. All things are not only in a constant state of change, but they are the cause of constant and infinite change in other things. Upon a narrow ledge thou standouts Behind thee, the bottomless abyss of the Past In front of thee, the Future that will swallow up all things that are now. Over what things, then, in this present life wilt thou, O foolish man, be disquieted or exalted making thyself wretched seeing that they can vex thee only for a time a brief, brief time.

Men seek out retreats for themselves in the country, by the seaside, on the moutains ... But all this is unphilosophical to the last degree ... when thou canst at a moment's notice retire into thyself.

Dress not thy thoughts in too fine a raiment. And be not a man of superfluous words or superfluous deeds.

Men are created one for another, either then teach them or bear with.

As a horse when he has run, a dog when he has caught the game, a bee when it has made the honey, so a man when he has done a good act does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season. Must a man then be one of these, who in a manner acts thus without observing it Yes. What more dost thou want when thou hast done a man a service Art thou not content that thou hast done something conformable to thy nature, and dost thou seek to be paid for it, just as if the eye demanded a recompense for seeing, or the feet should demand a recompense for walking.

Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within there lies the power to persuade, there the life, there, if one must speak out, the real man.

Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear.

Man must be arched and buttressed from within, else the temple wavers to the dust.

Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.

At day's first light have in readiness, against disinclination to leave your bed, the thought that 'I am rising for the work of man.'

How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.

One man is proud when he has caught a poor hare, and another when he has taken a little fish in a net, and another when he has taken wild boars, and another when he has taken bears ... Are these not robbers.

Let thy chief fort and place of defense be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this, hath no man.

A wrong-doer is often a man that has left something undone, not always he that has done something.