Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Quotes (80 Quotes)

By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.

Whatever is in any way beautiful has its source of beauty in itself, and is complete in itself praise forms no part of it.

This Being of mine, whatever it really is, consists of a little flesh, a little breath, and the part which governs.

The passing minute is every man's equal possession but what has once gone by is no longer ours.

And what after all is everlasting fame All together vanity.

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

Remember this, that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.

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.'

Whatever happens at all happens as it should thou wilt find this true, if thou shouldst watch closely.

Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.

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

You exist but as a part inherent in a greater whole. Do not live as though you had a thousand years before you. The common due impends while you live, and while you may, be good.

Every man's life lies within the present for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.

Is your cucumber bitter Throw it away. Are there briars in your path Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, 'Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world' neither intolerable nor everlasting if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it)or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility....

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.

If it is not seemly, do it not if it is not true, speak it not.

Spend your brief moment according to natures law, and serenely greet the journeys end as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bare it, and giving thanks to the tree that gave it life.

Whatever may befall thee, it was preordained for thee from everlasting.

Whatever is in any way beautiful hath its source of beauty in itself, and is complete in itself praise forms no part of it. So it is none the worse nor the better for being praised.

In every pain let this thought be present, that there is no dishonor in it, nor does it make the governing intelligence worse. Indeed, in the case of most pains, let this remark of Epicurus aid thee, that pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it)or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility, and not to think that pain is an evil.... It will suffice thee to remember as concerning pain ... that the mind may, by stopping all manner of commerce and sympathy with the body, still retain its own tranquility.

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

When we consider we are bound to be serviceable to mankind, and bear with their faults, we shall perceive there is a common tie of nature and relation between us.

How easy it is to repel and erase every impression which is troublesome or unwelcome, and immediately to be tranquil.

A good disposition is invincible, if it be genuine.

The best sort of revenge is not to be like him who did the injury.

Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy soul - for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.

This is moral perfection to live each day as though it were the last to be tranquil, sincere, yet not indifferent to ones fate.

Remember that to change your mind and follow him who sets you right is to be none the less free than you were before.

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.