100 Top Quotes From Meditations
A timeless classic of stoic philosophy, "Meditations" provides a unique glimpse into the mind of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher. Composed as a series of personal writings and reflections, this profound work offers valuable insights on how to find inner peace, live virtuously, and confront life's adversities with equanimity.
Marcus Aurelius imparts wisdom on the impermanence of life, the power of self-discipline, and the importance of living in harmony with the natural order of the universe. The book encourages readers to focus on the present moment, acknowledge their emotions without being ruled by them, and cultivate a sense of gratitude for life's blessings.
In its simplicity, "Meditations" remains a powerful guide for achieving tranquility amidst chaos and for cultivating resilience and self-awareness in the pursuit of a meaningful and purposeful existence. (Meditations Summary).
Meditations Quotes
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” (Meaning)
“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
"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.”
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
"The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”
"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”
"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
"Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
"If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
"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.”
"Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”
"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”
"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”
"When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.”
"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”
"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.”
"How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”
"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.”
"How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”
"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.”
"You are a little soul carrying about a corpse, as Epictetus used to say.”
"What we do now echoes in eternity.”
"Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil.”
"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.”
"Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”
"Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”
"For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.”
"The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.”
"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.”
"A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.”
"Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.”
"Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one.”
"Receive without conceit, release without struggle.”
"Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”
"If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.”
"A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.”
"It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.”
"Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.”
"The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”
"How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life”
"It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
"If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance.”
"Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour.”
"Though you break your heart, men will go on as before.”
"Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power.”
"Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them.”
"Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?”
"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.”
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”
"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”
"If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgement of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgement now.”
"Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whoever does injustice, does it to himself, making himself evil.”
"Confine yourself to the present.”
"Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them.”
"The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.”
"Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.”
"Be like the cliff against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.”
"The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.”
"The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall.”
"Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.”
"No one can lose either the past or the future - how could anyone be deprived of what he does not possess? ... It is only the present moment of which either stands to be deprived: and if this is all he has, he cannot lose what he does not have.”
"Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.”
"A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.”
"Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.”
"Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.”
"I was once a fortunate man but at some point fortune abandoned me. But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”
"Take full account of what Excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.”
"That which is really beautiful has no need of anything; not more than law, not more than truth, not more than benevolence or modesty.”
"When people injure you, ask yourself what good or harm they thought would come of it. If you understand that, you'll feel sympathy rather than outrage or anger."
"When you arise in the moring, think of what a precious privelege it is to be alive-- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love”
"All men are made one for another: either then teach them better or bear with them.”
"No man is happy who does not think himself so.”
"What we cannot bear removes us from life; what remains can be borne.”
"The blazing fire makes flames and brightness out of everything thrown into it.”
"Unhappy am I because this has happened to me.- Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future.”
"Life is opinion.”
"All things fade and quickly turn to myth.”
"In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present - I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world?”
"How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.”
"Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.”
"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.”
"All things of the body stream away like a river, all things of the mind are dreams and delusion; life is warfare, and a visit to a strange land; the only lasting fame is oblivion.”
"Time is like a river made up of the events which happen, and a violent stream; for as soon as a thing has been seen, it is carried away, and another comes in its place, and this will be carried away too.”
"Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets, and from the vagaries of the mind, and from the hard service of the flesh.”
"Anger cannot be dishonest.”
"In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, his fame doubtful. In short, all that is body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapors.”
"Everything - a horse, a vine - is created for some duty... For what task, then, were you yourself created?”
"Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; and if it is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.”
"The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere.”
"A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.”
"Stop wandering about! You aren't likely to read your own notebooks, or ancient histories, or the anthologies you've collected to enjoy in your old age. Get busy with life's purpose, toss aside empty hopes, get active in your own rescue-if you care for yourself at all-and do it while you can.”
"Neither worse then or better is a thing made by being praised.”
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore guard accordingly.”
"From the philosopher Catulus, never to be dismissive of a friend's accusation, even if it seems unreasonable, but to make every effort to restore the relationship to its normal condition.”
― Quotes from the book Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Meditations Author
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, often referred to as Marcus Aurelius, was a Roman emperor renowned for his wisdom and stoic philosophy. Ruling from 161 to 180 AD, he was the last of the "Five Good Emperors" of Rome. Marcus Aurelius is best remembered for his personal reflections and philosophical writings collected in his work "Meditations." In this insightful and introspective masterpiece, he delves into themes of self-discipline, virtue, and the impermanence of life. Through his stoic teachings, Marcus Aurelius emphasized the importance of living in accordance with nature, maintaining inner tranquility amidst external challenges, and accepting the world's unpredictability. His profound reflections on morality, duty, and self-awareness continue to inspire readers across generations and remain relevant in modern times, making him one of history's most respected and influential philosopher-kings.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
