He was a man who looked at what ought to be done, not to the reputation which is got by a man’s acts.
Marcus Aurelius
- Life
- 0121-0180
- Occupations
- politician, philosopher, writer
- Notable works
- Meditations
Facts: Wikidata (CC0), as of 2026-07-09
Marcus Aurelius never published a book: the Meditations are his private notebooks, written in Greek while on military campaign, and were never meant to be read by anyone else. That is why the most-quoted 'Stoic quotes' from him read like reminders rather than proclamations. Beware paraphrase drift here -- many popular 'Marcus Aurelius quotes' ('The obstacle is the way', in those words) are modern compressions of looser passages.
He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.
Marcus Aurelius
Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today inquisitive, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill.
Marcus Aurelius
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
Marcus Aurelius
Do every act of thy life as if it were the last.
Marcus Aurelius
Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.
Marcus Aurelius
Every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain.
Marcus Aurelius
Men seek retreats for themselves, houses in the country, sea-shores, and mountains; and thou too art wont to desire such things very much. But this is altogether a mark of the most common sort of men, for it is in thy power whenever thou shalt choose to retire into thyself. For nowhere either with more quiet or more freedom from trouble does a man retire than into his own soul.
Marcus Aurelius
Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, 'I have been harmed.' Take away the complaint, 'I have been harmed,' and the harm is taken away.
Marcus Aurelius
Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.
Marcus Aurelius
In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present -- I am rising to the work of a human being.
Marcus Aurelius
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
Marcus Aurelius
The mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid; and so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act, and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.
Marcus Aurelius
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.
Marcus Aurelius
If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change; for I seek the truth, by which no man was ever injured.
Marcus Aurelius
That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.
Marcus Aurelius
Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
Marcus Aurelius
The art of life is more like the wrestler's art than the dancer's, in respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.
Marcus Aurelius
If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.
Marcus Aurelius
Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.
Marcus Aurelius
Loss is nothing else than change, and change is Nature's delight.
Marcus Aurelius
No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.
Marcus Aurelius
If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.
Marcus Aurelius
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
Marcus Aurelius
You have power over your mind -- outside events you do not. Realize this, and you will find strength.
Marcus Aurelius
Death smiles at us all; all a man can do is smile back.
Marcus Aurelius
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
Marcus Aurelius
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
Marcus Aurelius
Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
Marcus Aurelius