Roman emperor · 121–180 CE
Marcus Aurelius
A Roman emperor who kept a private notebook of reminders to himself: how to face difficult people, how to think about death, how to do his duty well. We know it as the Meditations.
- Work
- 1
- Passages
- 487
- Words
- 45,588
- To read it all
- 3 hours
In his own words
Ten lines to start with
Mornings
Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.
Adversity
Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.
The inner life
Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.
Perception
The universe is transformation: life is opinion.
Obstacles
…that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.
Anger
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like [the wrong-doer].
Control
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.
Death
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.
Time
Short is the little which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain.
Teachers
…and I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection.
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Life
Who was Marcus Aurelius?
Marcus Aurelius was born in 121 CE and educated at length in rhetoric and philosophy. The first book of the Meditations is a list of what he owed to the people who shaped him, among them his Stoic teachers Rusticus, Apollonius and Sextus, and his rhetoric teacher and lifelong friend Fronto.
In 161 he succeeded his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, as emperor. His reign was troubled by attacks from Germany, rebellions in northern Italy and Egypt, and an outbreak of plague. He ruled until his death in 180.
The Meditations was written to and for himself, at least part of it during the last years of his military campaigns. Its title was given later, by a modern editor.
- 121Born.
- TeachersTaught by the Stoics Rusticus, Apollonius and Sextus. Rusticus lends him the discourses of Epictetus.
- 161Succeeds his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, as emperor.
- ReignWar on the German frontier, rebellions in northern Italy and Egypt, and plague.
- Last yearsWrites the Meditations, partly while on campaign.
- 180Dies, still emperor.
Four lives
Works
What survives
- MeditationsMarcus Aurelius
Meditations
487 passages · 3 hours
In numbers
The words he leans on
Words Marcus uses far more often than the other three Stoics, counted across everything of theirs on this site. Pick one to compare.
Marcus uses ‘universe’ 7.1 times as often as the other three.
- Marcus16.2
- Seneca2.3
- Epictetus2.8
- Musonius1.7
Uses per 10,000 words
Marcus on universeEverything harmonizes with me, which is harmonious to thee, O Universe.
In numbers
Who he talks about
The people Marcus names most often. Pick one to read the lines where they come up.
SocratesAthenian philosopher
Marcus names him 14 times.
And that might be applied to him which is recorded of Socrates, that he was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy, those things which many are too weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy without excess.
Connections
Teachers and students
- Senecac. 4 BCE–65 CEBoth in Nero’s Rome
- Musonius Rufus1st century CETaught himNamed 7 times in the Discourses
- Epictetusc. 50–135 CERead his discoursesLent by Rusticus; named 6 times in the Meditations
- Marcus Aurelius121–180 CE
Go further
Guides and other Stoics
- Memento mori: what the Stoics meant by remembering deathRemembering death, not to be morbid but to stop wasting time and fearing the wrong things.
- Amor fati: the Stoic art of accepting, and even loving, what happensWishing for things to happen as they do: what “love of fate” means, and what it doesn’t.
- Stoic exercises: 9 daily practices from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and EpictetusNine daily practices from the Stoics themselves, from the morning preparation to the evening review.
Sources
- Rachana Kamtekar, “Marcus Aurelius”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Katja Vogt, “Seneca”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Margaret Graver, “Epictetus”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- William O. Stephens, “Musonius Rufus”, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Word and name counts are from the English translations on this site, so they reflect the translators’ choices as well as the authors’.