Later sculptural depiction by Laurys Gillis, 1737Laurys Gillis / Rijksmuseum; CC0 · CC0

193 collected words

Marcus Aurelius

Life dates: 121 AD — 180 AD

Name supplied in the contributor-provided quotation collection. Basic attribution label; identity, lifetime and quotation authenticity have not been independently verified.

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Quotations and sayings

01c. 150 AD

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.

Marcus Aurelius / quote

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02c. 150 AD

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

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03c. 150 AD

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...

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04c. 150 AD

Our life is what our thoughts make it.

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05c. 150 AD

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.

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06c. 150 AD

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

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07c. 150 AD

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.

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08c. 150 AD

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.

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09c. 150 AD

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

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10c. 150 AD

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.

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11c. 150 AD

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.

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12c. 150 AD

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.

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13c. 150 AD

Don't go on discussing what a good person should be. Just be one.

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14c. 150 AD

Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?

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15c. 150 AD

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.

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16c. 150 AD

Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them.

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17c. 150 AD

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.

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18c. 150 AD

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.

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19c. 150 AD

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.

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20c. 150 AD

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.

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21c. 150 AD

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.

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22c. 150 AD

All things fade and quickly turn to myth.

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23c. 150 AD

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.

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24c. 150 AD

Observe the movements of the stars as if you were running their courses with them, and let your mind constantly dwell on the changes of the elements into each other. Such imaginings wash away the filth of life on the ground.

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