Marcus Aurelius Quotes

“A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions.”

“If you don’t have a consistent goal in life, you can’t live it in a consistent way.”

“A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.”

“Confine yourself to the present.”

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

“The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

“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.”

“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”

“The mind freed from passions is an impenetrable fortress, a person has no more secure place of refuge for all time.”

“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions, not outside.”

“To live happily is an inward power of the soul.”

“Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.”

“Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.”

“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.”

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”

“Choose not to be harmed, and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed, and you haven’t been.”

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”

“You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.”

“When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help.”

“It isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier.”

“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.”

“Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Don’t try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand.”

“We live only now. Everything else is either passed or is unknown.”

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly.”

“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good.”

“He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.”

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

“Be content to seem what you really are.”

“Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour.”

“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”

“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”

“If anyone can refute me — show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective — I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone.”

“If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”

“A wrongdoer is often a man who has left something undone, not always one who has done something.”

“It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.”

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”

“If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.”

“Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.”

“It is quite possible to be a good man without anyone realizing it.”

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

“True good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”

“While it’s true that someone can impede our actions, they can’t impede our intentions and our attitudes, which have the power of being conditional and adaptable.”

“Don’t be ashamed of needing help. You have a duty to fulfill, just like a soldier on the wall of battle.”