Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
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Marcus Aurelius

121 – 219 CE

One of the most important Stoic philosophers and last of the "Five Good Emperors,” during a time Gibbon described as, a period when "the Roman Empire was governed… under the guidance of wisdom and virtue.” He was known as a philosopher king and by many as the only Roman emperor who not only spoke and knew wisdom but also lived it. His book, Meditations describes setting up a just government of service and duty and was a favorite of leaders and philosophers from Frederick the Great to John Stuart Mill, from Goethe to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and US president Bill Clinton.

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Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

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Quotes by Marcus Aurelius (35 quotes)

“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.”

Chapters: 17. True Leaders

Themes: Know Yourself

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“A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.”

Chapters: 57. Wu Wei

Themes: Meaningfulness

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“Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.”

Chapters: 62. Basic Goodness

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“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”

Chapters: 59. The Gardening of Spirit

Themes: Inspiration

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“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”

Chapters: 58. Goals Without Means

Themes: Money

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“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

Chapters: 21. Following Empty Heart

Themes: Opinion

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“Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not ‘This is misfortune,’ but ‘To bear this worthily is good fortune.’”

Chapters: 44. Fame and Fortune

Themes: Appreciation

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“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Chapters: 68. Joining Heaven & Earth

Themes: Karma Anger

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“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.”

Chapters: 81. Journey Without Goal

Themes: Projection

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“Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands.”

Chapters: 44. Fame and Fortune

Themes: Fame

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“Regain your senses, call yourself back, and once again wake up. Now that you realize that only dreams were troubling you, view this 'reality' as you view your dreams.”

Chapters: 40. Returning

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“The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Chapters: 41. Distilled Life
18. The Sick Society

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“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.”

Chapters: 50. Claws and Swords

Themes: Death and Dying

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“You always own the option of having no opinion.”

Chapters: 9. Know When to Stop

Themes: Opinion

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“Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.”

Chapters: 35. The Power of Goodness

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“All things are interwoven, a sacred bond uniting them into the oneness of truth.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Truth Oneness

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“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Death and Dying

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“See that you are part of a universe in flux and have a very limited time to clear away the clouds in your mind.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Time

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“In this immensity of past and future time, what is the difference between living three days or three generations?”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Longevity Time

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“When you start to criticize someone’s fault, ask yourself which of your own faults most closely resembles it.

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

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“Time is like a river of events - each arising, carried away, and quickly replaced by something also quickly replaced.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Carpe diem Time

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“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Reason

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“Do everything as a disciple of Antoninus. Remember his constancy in every reasonable act, his evenness in all things, his piety, and the serenity of his countenance, and his disregard of empty fame... with how little he was satisfied, how laborious and patient, how religious without superstition.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Fame

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“Nowhere can we find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in our own soul.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Meditation

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“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.”

Themes: Ambition

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“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

Themes: Non-Thought

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“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

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“Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it. Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

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“the life of every man is short and yours is almost finished while you do not respect yourself but allow your happiness to depend upon others”

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“I dream of one world in which all are prosperous and all can take care of their children, and in which there is no war.”

Themes: Peace

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“Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself, and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Beauty

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“One Universe made up of all that is; and one God in it all, and one principle of Being, and one Law, The Reason, shared by all thinking creatures, and one Truth.”

from Meditations Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Themes: Law and Order

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“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”

Themes: Meditation

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“You can be invincible if you enter into no contest in which it is not in your power to conquer.”

Themes: Letting Go

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“do not wish to be a general or a senator or consul, but a free man, and there is only one way to do this, to care not for the things which are not in our power.”

Themes: Free Will

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Quotes about Marcus Aurelius (5 quotes)

“Marcus revered the character of his benefactor, loved him as a parent, obeyed his as his sovereign... His life was the noblest commentary of the precepts of Zeno, He was severe to himself indulgent to the imperfections of others, just and beneficent to all mankind... Their united reigns are possibly the only period of history in which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of government.”

Edward Gibbon 1737 – 1794 CE
from Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

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“Marcus was too good to be great enough to discipline him or renounce him [his son Commodus]; he kept on hoping that education and responsibility would sober him and make him grow into a king.”

Will Durant 1885 – 1981 CE
Philosophy apostle and popularizer of history's lessons
from Caesar and Christ

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“If a man were called upon to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would without hesitation name that which elapsed from the accession of Nerva to the death of Aurelius. Their united reign are possibly the only period of history in which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of government:”

Edward Gibbon 1737 – 1794 CE
from Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

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“Marcus Aurelius is one of the most noble of the Roman emperors but his importance goes far beyond his role in the policies and history of an empire he knew to be ephemeral... He dreamed of an empire in which individuals were free to live life as they chose and to follow their ambitions.”

J. Rufus Fears 1945 – 2012 CE
from Books That Made History

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“In Seneca's letters, in the discourses of Epictetus, in Marcus Aurelius' diary, there is an atmosphere of purity, goodness, noble strength, such as pervades few books in all the literature of the world.”

Edith Hamilton 1867 – 1963 CE
from Roman Way

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