Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (Deluxe Hardcover Edition, George Long translation)

Easy to read. Profound knowledge. Open it up and you can read one line, one page or several on a lunch break and feel better and a bit more interesting.

Small book but the binding and quality was good.

This small hardcover book fits easily into my purse. When I'm really on the go, and I find myself in a Hurry Up & Wait situation, I pull this out. This incredibly intelligent and introspective man was wise ... and probably wiser ... than any of our current statesmen and leaders of uplifting movements or trains of thought/philosophy. Much wisdom and peace are found on every page .

This was a Christmas gift for a scholarly colleague.

One of the great books of how to live a good philosophic life. Also, the translation is excellent. As a way to encourage readers to purchase this book, I offer commentary on Book One, Book Two and Book Three:From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper. ---------- Anybody reading the literature from ancient Rome will be struck by how extreme and intense the expression of emotions - weeping, whaling, fits of jealousy, anger, rage, using daggers and lances to gouge others and even oneself. It's no wonder Marcus is thankful he learned to govern his moods and temper. ====== simplicity and pietyFrom the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a manly character. -------- None of that strutting about waving one's arms, wearing flashy or expensive cloths and other tricks for self-aggrandizement. Ah, to walk through the world with a clear head and a natural, graceful gate.From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich. ---------- Common practice in the Roman world for the rich to stuff food down their throats and gulp huge bowls of wine. And then turn one's drunken, base desires in the direction of others. From an early age, Marcus was given flesh-and-blood examples of how such practices are most unwise. And equally important, learning to not even to entertains thoughts in that direction.From my great-grandfather, not to have frequented public schools, and to have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such things a man should spend liberally. ---------- I wish I was spared the mindless competition, senseless conformity and regimentation I encountered in public schools!From my governor, to be neither of the green nor of the blue party at the games in the Circus, nor a partisan either of the Parmularius or the Scutarius at the gladiators' fights; from him too I learned endurance of labor, and to want little, and to work with my own hands, and not to meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander. ---------- If we get upset if our team doesn't win, then we should replay the game in our mind with our team winning. Then we'll see just how big a deal it if our team wins. Ultimately, when it comes to public contests and sports, let the winner win. That way we're never disappointed. And, second point: to be free from small-mindedness of engaging in gossip or listening to gossip.From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about incantations and the driving away of daemons and such things; and not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give myself up passionately to such things; and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever else of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline. -------- With a disciplined body and mind, understanding how slickers and fast-talkers and con artists play with people's emotions and trick people into forking over the dollars. In today's world, televangelism as a prime example. Also, learning to live in simplicity.From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man who practices much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a display; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine writing. And I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection. ---------- Marcus learned life requires continual training; we should never plateau; rather, we should always strive for improvement. He also learned not to be a showoff and free of language as display, as trickery: philosophy as endless wordplay -- most important since many so-called philosophers in the Roman world were into linguistic word games.From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason; and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss of a child, and in long illness ---------- What a lesson! Not to go through life on an emotional yo-yo but hold steadiness of purpose and keep one's mind on the point, or, in a word, to always be levelheaded and remain calm rather than fly off the handle or become an excitable scatterbrain.From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the idea of living conformably to nature; and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without consideration. ---------- Again, from his friend, Marcus is given a flesh-and-blood example of what it means to be a stoic philosopher and live according to nature: to be kind, gentle and considerate of others rather than being a self-centered oaf.From Alexander the grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous or solipsistic or strange-sounding expression. ---------- Marcus is given a living example of always showing decency and respect to others, even if we encounter people who are less than ideal speakers and thinkers. And to raise people up rather than putting them down. Nobody likes to be around a smellfungus or black bile stinker.From Fronto I learned to observe what envy, and duplicity, and hypocrisy are in a tyrant, and that generally those among us who are called Patricians are rather deficient in paternal affection. ---------- Just because someone holds high political or pubic office doesn't disqualify them from being a bloated buffoon or mean-spirited rat.From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently nor without necessity to say to any one, or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure; nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by our relation to those with whom we live, by alleging urgent occupations. ---------- Don't continually tell people you are too busy or too important to speak with them or deal with their issues.From Catulus, not to be indifferent when a friend finds fault, even if he should find fault without reason, but to try to restore him to his usual disposition; and to be ready to speak well of teachers, as it is reported of Domitius and Athenodotus; and to love my children truly. ---------- Learn to be open to constructive criticism.From my brother Severus, to love my kin, and to love truth, and to love justice; and through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion, Brutus; and from him I received the idea of a polity in which there is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed; I learned from him also consistency and undeviating steadiness in my regard for philosophy; and a disposition to do good, and to give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and to believe that I am loved by my friends; and in him I observed no concealment of his opinions with respect to those whom he condemned, and that his friends had no need to conjecture what he wished or did not wish, but it was quite plain. ---------- Always to be forthright and treat others with fairness.From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness; and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity, and to do what was set before me without complaining. --------- This speaks volumes of the character of a wise philosopher: always display self-control and maintain cheerfulness and a sense of humor no matter how dire the challenges and circumstances.In my father I observed mildness of temper, and unchangeable resolution in the things which he had determined after due deliberation; and no vainglory in those things which men call honors . . . to be satisfied on all occasions, and cheerful . . . his habit of careful inquiry in all matters of deliberation. ---------- Marcus sees his father as something of the ideal philosopher-king - wise, just, tolerant and continually holding the good of the state about self-interest.I am thankful to the gods that I was not longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine, and that I preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did not make proof of my virility before the proper season, but even deferred the time; that I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like show. ---- The making of a true philosopher: thankful he lived life with piety and delayed his own sexual pleasures. And that is was always interested in philosophy as self-transformation and self-improvement not as a set of theories.Book TwoBegin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him, For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away. ----------- Brace yourself to meet the big-mouth slobs of the world. There is no shortage of them, to be sure. But since we are all dependent on one another as humans, recognize in some way every single person walking the earth is important, but not so important to us personally that we should let ourselves get upset by them.Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh and breath, and the ruling part. Throw away thy books; no longer distract thyself: it is not allowed; but as if thou was now dying, despise the flesh; it is blood and bones and a network, a contexture of nerves, veins, and arteries. See the breath also, what kind of a thing it is, air, and not always the same, but every moment sent out and again sucked in. The third then is the ruling part: consider thus: Thou art an old man; no longer let this be a slave, no longer be pulled by the strings like a puppet to unsocial movements, no longer either be dissatisfied with thy present lot, or shrink from the future. ---------- Don't hang on to the body like a bodybuilder or debutant; rather, let it go. Identify with our ruling part: that clear, shining consciousness guided by reason. How to practice? Envision ourselves in our last minutes of life before death. This simple technique is an excellent way to appreciate every breath, every moment of our lives.All that is from the gods is full of Providence. That which is from fortune is not separated from nature or without an interweaving and involution with the things which are ordered by Providence. From thence all things flow; and there is besides necessity, and that which is for the advantage of the whole universe, of which thou art a part. But that is good for every part of nature which the nature of the whole brings, and what serves to maintain this nature. ---------- Understand and appreciate the basic goodness of nature, the goodness of life and accord your life to be in harmony with the wholeness of nature. Such an understanding of the whole takes the sting out of specific tragedies. There is certainly a place for grieving but do not permit a loss of loved ones or friends to destroy your entire life.Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it. Thou must now at last perceive of what universe thou art a part, and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return. ---------- If you aspire to live like a philosopher, there is no time like the present. If you postpone self-discipline, you will only make matters worse if you every decide to start on the path.Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee. Thou seest how few the things are, the which if a man lays hold of, he is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of the gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who observes these things. ---------- Live with a continual sense of dignity. And how to develop kindness and dignity? Nothing like an on-going awareness of death and the prospect that every act we engage in could be our last.Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the opportunity of honoring thyself. Every man's life is sufficient. But thine is nearly finished, though thy soul reverences not itself but places thy felicity in the souls of others. ----------- As Roman Emperor, Marcus knew how responsibilities could pull him out of himself, knock him off-center, threaten his Stoic resolve. When this happens, as it does to everybody, the important thing is to recognize what is happening and then take the necessary steps to return to your center. And be kind to yourself - nobody is perfect.Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around. But then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way. For those too are triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts. --------- Hold to your center. Recognize the events that pull us out of our center are distractions. This tug is the wheel of samsara. Do what is necessary to live at the hub. A daily practice of meditation can help tremendously.Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds must of necessity be unhappy. --------- The emphasis is on mindfulness and awareness. When we are aware of the swirling of our stream of consciousness, we are living at a higher vibration.This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole, and what is my nature, and how this is related to that, and what kind of a part it is of what kind of a whole; and that there is no one who hinders thee from always doing and saying the things which are according to the nature of which thou art a part. ---------- How liberating! Recognize our link with all of nature - we are a drop in the vast ocean - our light is the light of universal consciousness. Universal consciousness is imminent; nature is the expression of universal consciousness and we are not separate from nature.Theophrastus, in his comparison of bad acts- such a comparison as one would make in accordance with the common notions of mankind- says, like a true philosopher, that the offences which are committed through desire are more blameable than those which are committed through anger. For he who is excited by anger seems to turn away from reason with a certain pain and unconscious contraction; but he who offends through desire, being overpowered by pleasure, seems to be in a manner more intemperate and more womanish in his offences. ---------- When we are angry, we lose our reason, so it is understandable we will act badly. When we are simply desiring pleasure, we still have our reason, so when we act badly hankering after pleasures, this is really a strike against our philosophical wisdom.Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil; but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of Providence? --------- The true Stoic philosopher - honoring a noble life lived in accordance with nature: and nature is nature irrespective of the existence of any gods. The critical issue is to be true to oneself.How quickly all things disappear, in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance of them; what is the nature of all sensible things, and particularly those which attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain, or are noised abroad by vapoury fame; how worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and perishable, and dead they are - all this it is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. --------- All of life is a continual birth and death. Why give attention to the noise and opinions of the crowd? Be your own person.Nothing is more wretched than a man who traverses everything in a round, and pries into the things beneath the earth, as the poet says, and seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbours, without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within him, and to reverence it sincerely. And reverence of the daemon consists in keeping it pure from passion and thoughtlessness, and dissatisfaction with what comes from gods and men. --------- Indeed, nothing is more wretched than being preoccupied with gossip and chatter. Rather than being attuned to such nonsense, listen to your own inner voice, attend to your own inner light.Though thou shouldst be going to live three thousand years, and as many times ten thousand years, still remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses. The longest and shortest are thus brought to the same. For the present is the same to all, though that which perishes is not the same; and so that which is lost appears to be a mere moment. For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him? These two things then thou must bear in mind; the one, that all things from eternity are of like forms and come round in a circle, and that it makes no difference whether a man shall see the same things during a hundred years or two hundred, or an infinite time; and the second, that the longest liver and he who will die soonest lose just the same. For the present is the only thing of which a man can be deprived, if it is true that this is the only thing which he has, and that a man cannot lose a thing if he has it not. --------- I've known many a fool who is an old fool. For instance, I recall listening to a 89 year-old man complaining about having to wait in line. I wonder how many times he complained in all those year - probably tens of thousands! Such silliness. On the other hand, one can display wisdom and patience at any age.Remember that all is opinion. For what was said by the Cynic Monimus is manifest: and manifest too is the use of what was said, if a man receives what may be got out of it as far as it is true. --------- There are as many opinions as there are men and women. How much of what is said is worthy of being written down and used as a precept to live one's life? Not much!The soul of man does violence to itself, first of all, when it becomes an abscess and, as it were, a tumour on the universe, so far as it can. For to be vexed at anything which happens is a separation of ourselves from nature, in some part of which the natures of all other things are contained. In the next place, the soul does violence to itself when it turns away from any man, or even moves towards him with the intention of injuring, such as are the souls of those who are angry. --------- The more we observe complainers and hotheads the more we see such unfortunate people are living in a kind of hell on earth.Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of judgment. And, to say all in a word, everything which belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after-fame is oblivion. What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. ---------- The more we are swirled around on the ups and downs of the wheel of fortune, the more unpleasant our experience of life. When we keep to the hub, our center, we can live a pleasant life that is wise, honorable and just - the life of a true philosopher.Book ThreeWe ought to consider not only that our life is daily wasting away and a smaller part of it is left, but another thing also must be taken into the account, that if a man should live longer, it is quite uncertain whether the understanding will still continue sufficient for the comprehension of things, and retain the power of contemplation which strives to acquire the knowledge of the divine and the human. For if he shall begin to fall into dotage, perspiration and nutrition and imagination and appetite, and whatever else there is of the kind, will not fail; but the power of making use of ourselves, and filling up the measure of our duty, and clearly separating all appearances, and considering whether a man should now depart from life, and whatever else of the kind absolutely requires a disciplined reason, all this is already extinguished. We must make haste then, not only because we are daily nearer to death, but also because the conception of things and the understanding of them cease first. ---------- Marcus anticipates Alzheimer's and other related diseases. If you want to live a life of philosophical wisdom, do not postpone. It is a mistake to think you will have all your faculties in the future and you can devote yourself to philosophy and enlightenment as an older adult. Again, if you are currently of sound mind - take advantage of this fact, starting today!We ought to observe also that even the things which follow after the things which are produced according to nature contain something pleasing and attractive. For instance, when bread is baked some parts are split at the surface, and these parts which thus open, and have a certain fashion contrary to the purpose of the baker's art, are beautiful in a manner, and in a peculiar way excite a desire for eating. And again, figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open; and in the ripe olives the very circumstance of their being near to rottenness adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit. And the ears of corn bending down, and the lion's eyebrows, and the foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things- though they are far from being beautiful, if a man should examine them severally- still, because they are consequent upon the things which are formed by nature, help to adorn them, and they please the mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and deeper insight with respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there is hardly one of those which follow by way of consequence which will not seem to him to be in a manner disposed so as to give pleasure. And so he will see even the real gaping jaws of wild beasts with no less pleasure than those which painters and sculptors show by imitation; and in an old woman and an old man he will be able to see a certain maturity and comeliness; and the attractive loveliness of young persons he will be able to look on with chaste eyes; and many such things will present themselves, not pleasing to every man, but to him only who has become truly familiar with nature and her works. ---------- Greco-Roman Stoicism is sometimes criticized for not giving attention to aesthetics. To counter this argument, one can point to Marcus's words here. In brief, Marcus sees beauty in the natural rhythms of the world - in the way bread rises, olives ripen, and, yes, even in the way animal bare their teeth. All of nature, and of life, can be seen as beautiful, it is a matter of our beautifying our gaze.Hippocrates after curing many diseases himself fell sick and died. The Chaldaei foretold the deaths of many, and then fate caught them too. Alexander, and Pompeius, and Caius Caesar, after so often completely destroying whole cities, and in battle cutting to pieces many ten thousands of cavalry and infantry, themselves too at last departed from life. Heraclitus, after so many speculations on the conflagration of the universe, was filled with water internally and died smeared all over with mud. And lice destroyed Democritus; and other lice killed Socrates. What means all this? Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage, thou art come to shore; get out. If indeed to another life, there is no want of gods, not even there. But if to a state without sensation, thou wilt cease to be held by pains and pleasures, and to be a slave to the vessel, which is as much inferior as that which serves it is superior: for the one is intelligence and deity; the other is earth and corruption. -------- Seen from a certain perspective, life is one huge death-mill. It's just a matter of time - we all die. And as Marcus reasons, if there are gods, we will meet them in death - good news. And if there are not gods and only atoms and void, then, similar to our experience prior to being born, we will at least be free from the wheel of pleasure and pain - also good news. Either way, no need to fear death. In this, Marcus has learned his lesson from Epicurus.Do not waste the remainder of thy life in thoughts about others, when thou dost not refer thy thoughts to some object of common utility. For thou loses the opportunity of doing something else when thou hast such thoughts as these, What is such a person doing, and why, and what is he saying, and what is he thinking of, and what is he contriving, and whatever else of the kind makes us wander away from the observation of our own ruling power. We ought then to check in the series of our thoughts everything that is without a purpose and useless, but most of all the over-curious feeling and the malignant; and a man should use himself to think of those things only about which if one should suddenly ask, What hast thou now in thy thoughts? ---------- Marcus never tires of warning us that our time on earth is short and we shouldn't waste our precious minutes being a busybody, concerning ourselves about trifles and other people's business. Our thoughts should be on a higher level, so that we are proud of what we think.Labor not unwillingly, nor without regard to the common interest, nor without due consideration, nor with distraction; nor let studied ornament set off thy thoughts, and be not either a man of many words, or busy about too many things. And further, let the deity which is in thee be the guardian of a living being, manly and of ripe age, and engaged in matter political, and a Roman, and a ruler, who has taken his post like a man waiting for the signal which summons him from life, and ready to go, having need neither of oath nor of any man's testimony. Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquility which others give. A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. ---------- Be your own person; have the spine to stand on your own without being overly reliant on others. Marcus's word ring true even in our modern world.If thou find in human life anything better than justice, truth, temperance, fortitude, and, in a word, anything better than thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason, and in the condition that is assigned to thee without thy own choice; if, I say, thou sees anything better than this, turn to it with all thy soul, and enjoy that which thou hast found to be the best. But if nothing appears to be better than the deity which is planted in thee, which has subjected to itself all thy appetites, and carefully examines all the impressions, and, as Socrates said, has detached itself from the persuasions of sense, and has submitted itself to the gods, and cares for mankind; if thou find everything else smaller and of less value than this, give place to nothing else, for if thou dost once diverge and incline to it, thou wilt no longer without distraction be able to give the preference to that good thing which is thy proper possession and thy own; for it is not right that anything of any other kind, such as praise from the many, or power, or enjoyment of pleasure, should come into competition with that which is rationally and politically or practically good. ---------- Live above mere appetite; be a person of high principle. And don't be swayed by things loved by the mob, such as praise, power and crass pleasures.Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect, to hate any man, to suspect, to curse, to act the hypocrite, to desire anything which needs walls and curtains. -------- In our public dealings, always be honest and upright; don't degrade other people or yourself by sneaking or slinking around.In the mind of one who is chastened and purified thou wilt find no corrupt matter, nor impurity, nor any sore skinned over. Nor is his life incomplete when fate overtakes him, as one may say of an actor who leaves the stage before ending and finishing the play. Besides, there is in him nothing servile, nor affected, nor too closely bound to other things, nor yet detached from other things, nothing worthy of blame, nothing which seeks a hiding-place. --------- As long as you live an honest, upright life, if your life is cut short, that does not diminish your honesty or integrity.Reverence the faculty which produces opinion. On this faculty it entirely depends whether there shall exist in thy ruling part any opinion inconsistent with nature and the constitution of the rational animal. And this faculty promises freedom from hasty judgment, and friendship towards men, and obedience to the gods. ---------- Respect your own ability to think and reason. If you show respect to your thoughts, you will give yourself the time and breath to think clearly and cogently.Throwing away then all things, hold to these only which are few; and besides bear in mind that every man lives only this present time, which is an indivisible point, and that all the rest of his life is either past or it is uncertain. Short then is the time which every man lives, and small the nook of the earth where he lives; and short too the longest posthumous fame, and even this only continued by a succession of poor human beings, who will very soon die, and who know not even themselves, much less him who died long ago. ---------- All we are given is the present. Treasure the moment and be true to yourself in the moment; none of that `means justifying the ends' or sacrificing the honesty of the moment for some vague projection into the future.

A book every man should read!

Love the subject and own the FULLY transcribed edition from George Long, that has book One ~ book Twelve and is a complete book. This is not. Don't like that there is no table of contents, nor do I appreciate that entire parts of the original have been REMOVED or just omitted. Therefore this is a partial, "Cliff Note" edition from a monumental mind and true translation. Like getting a version of 'Star Wars' without having Obi Wan Kenobi included in the story....

Gave copies to my children and my dad :)