Best 707 quotes of Marcus Aurelius on MyQuotes

Above, below, all around are the movements of the elements. But the motion of virtue is in none of these: it is something more divine, and advancing by a way hardly observed it goes happily on its road.

Accustom yourself not to be disregarding of what someone else has to say: as far as possible enter into the mind of the speaker.

Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you.

Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.

Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things which lie between virtue and vice. Love mankind. Follow God. The poet says that Law rules all. And it is enough to remember that law rules all.

After all, what does fame everlasting mean? Mere vanity.

A good disposition is invincible, if it be genuine.

A good man does not spy around for the black spots in others, but presses unswervingly on towards his mark.

A great estate is a great disadvantage to those who do not know how to use it, for nothing is more common than to see wealthy persons live scandalously and miserably; riches do them no service in order to virtue and happiness; therefore 'tis precept and principle, not an estate, that makes a man good for something.

Alexander the Great and his mule driver both died and the same thing happened to both.

A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all - that is myself.

A little time, and thou shalt close thy eyes; and him who has attended thee to thy grave, another soon will lament.

All is ephemeral - fame and the famous as well.

... Allow yourself a space of quiet, wherein you can add to your knowledge of the Good and learn to curb your restlessness. Guard also against another kind of error: the folly of those who weary their days in much business, but lack any aim on which their whole effort, nay, their whole thought, is focused.

All that happens is as usual and familiar as the rose in spring and the crop in summer.

All that is harmony for you, my Universe, is in harmony with me as well. Nothing that comes at the right time for you is too early or too late for me. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, Nature. All things come of you, have their being in you, and return to you.

All that is not eternal is eternally out of date. C. S. LEWIS, The Four Loves Life is short. Eternity is long. BENTLEY LITTLE, His Father's Son What we do now echoes in eternity.

All things are changing; and thou thyself art in continuous mutation and in a manner in continuous destruction and the whole universe to.

All things are in the act of change; thou thyself in ceaseless transformation and partial decay, and the whole universe with thee.

All things are linked with one another, and this oneness is sacred; there is nothing that is not interconnected with everything else. For things are interdependent, and they combine to form this universal order. There is only one universe made up of all things, and one creator who pervades them; there is one substance and one law, namely, common reason in all thinking creatures, and all truth is one-if, as we believe, there is only one path of perfection for all beings who share the same mind.

All things fade and quickly turn to myth.

All things change, and you yourself are constantly wasting away. So also is the universe.

All things from eternity are of like forms and come round in circle.

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.

All those [events in history] were such dramas as we see now, only with different actors.

A lucky chance is constant in nothing but inconstancy.

Always bear this in mind, that very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life.

Always follow these two rules: first, act only on what your reasoning mind proposes for the good of humanity, and second, change your opinion if someone shows you it's wrong. This change of mind must proceed only from the conviction that it's both correct and for the common good, but not because it will give you pleasure and make you popular.

Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason. For such a purpose frees a man from trouble, and warfare, and all artifice and ostentatious display.

Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.

A man does not sin by commission only, but often by omission.

A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.

A man should always have these two rules in readiness. First, to do only what the reason of your ruling and legislating faculties suggest for the service of man. Second, to change your opinion whenever anyone at hand sets you right and unsettles you in an opinion, but this change of opinion should come only because you are persuaded that something is just or to the public advantage, not because it appears pleasant or increases your reputation.

A man should be upright, not kept upright.

A man's life is what his thoughts make of it.

A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for.

A man's true greatness lies in the consciousness of an honest purpose in life, founded on a just estimate of himself and everything else, on frequent self-examinations, and a steady obedience to the rule which he knows to be right, without troubling himself about what others may think or say, or whether they do or do not that which he thinks and says and does.

A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions.

Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind. Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived.

An angry look on the face is wholly against nature. If it be assumed frequently, beauty begins to perish, and in the end is quenched beyond rekindling.

And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change? Do you not see then that for yourself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature?

And finally remember that nothing harms him who is really a citizen, which does not harm the state; nor yet does anything harm the state which does not harm law [order]; and of these things which are called misfortunes not one harms law. What then does not harm law does not harm either state or citizen.

And in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of being, the easier it is to discern a connection even among things separated by vast distances.

And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.

And yet, after all, what is posthumous fame? Altogether vanity.

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. Praise is no part of it, for nothing is made worse or better by praise.

Aptitude found in the understanding and is often inherited. Genius coming from reason and imagination, rarely.

A rational nature admits of nothing but what is serviceable to the rest of mankind.

Are you distracted by outward cares? Then allow yourself a space of quiet wherein you can add to your knowledge of the Good and learn to curb your restlessness. Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul. Avail yourself often, then, of this retirement, and so continually renew yourself.