Life happens" is a very stoic modern phrase, and I think it sums it up fairly well. Of course there's more to Stoicism, but a constant theme throughout Meditations is the need to not push against the flow of life; to accept what "Nature" has done. Your car breaks down? Well, getting upset about it is causing you unnecessary suffering and grief. Accept what life has thrown at you and move on with it. Alexander Pope said, "whatever is, is right." Another strong theme is of maintaining focus and to be without distraction all the while maintaining strong ethical principles such as "Being a good man." Observațiile împăratului, scrise în limba greacă (și nu în latină), între anii 170 și 180, au fost tipărite abia în 1558, după un manuscris azi pierdut. I don’t normally read self help books. Often they seem full of cliches left over from the Victorian era. And in this book, which may have been modeled on the writings of Alain De Botton, Marcus mixes in a lot of philosophy and this just isn’t to everyone’s taste. And: "If at some point in your life, you should come across anything better than justice, honesty, self-control, courage - than a mind satisfied that it succeeded in enabling you to act rationally, and satisfied to accept what is beyond its control - if you find anything better than that, embrace it without reservations - it must be an extraordinary thing indeed - and enjoy it to the full." Book III

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. Prin urmare, îndemnul „Înlătură setea de cărți, ca să nu mori cîrtind!” este adresat numai și numai sieși. El poate fi interpretat, desigur, în multe feluri.

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Meditations deal extensively with the concept of death. Marcus Aurelius explains why one must not be afraid of inevitable demise.

If you're looking to study Stoicism as a whole, I would like to recommend not starting with this. Most of Aurelius' words are built upon centuries of other stoic philosophers, and there are themes related to Stoicism that need a precursor. The idea of Logos being chief among them. I will say it's the pinnacle of Stoic thought, but that is what makes it a terrible starting point. Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Not to meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready to listen to slander." ---------- I didn't need a teacher here; I recognized on my own at an early age that gossip is a colossal waste of time and energy, both listening to gossip and spreading gossip. I can't imagine a clearer indication of a base, coarse mind than someone inclined to gossip and slandering others. Aș menționa că Marcus Aurelius a scris mereu și mereu pentru un singur destinatar: pentru sine, așa cum arată însuși titlul meditațiilor sale: Ta eis heauton, Către mine însumi. Nu se gîndea la un cititor străin, la viitor și postumitate, caietul lui de însemnări îl însoțea pretutindeni, în tabere îndeosebi, prin „țara quazilor, aproape de rîul Granua” (adică în Panonia de azi), cum precizează într-un fragment (II: incipit, p.83), prin ținuturile triburilor germane, în Galia ori în Asia Mică. Împăratul controla riguros legiunile, taberele, castrele de pe granița imperiului, doar noaptea avea timp să noteze, într-un cort de soldat, la lumina precară a unui lucubrum, în puținul timp liber.

When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one’s energy, that one’s modesty, another’s generosity, and so on . Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we’re practically showered with them. It’s good to keep this in mind. The man in charge of the great empire does not attach weight to the posthumous fame or slander that may haunt famous people both during their lifetime and after. Praise and calumny are equally considered vanities. While it can get a bit repetitive sometimes, and can, at times, feel like ideas we’ve heard a million times before, there is something profoundly soothing and inspiring in Marcus Aurelius’ little maxims: they are a refreshing reminder that leading a life of simplicity and compassion can be a much more rewarding life than one based on greed and superficial, fleeting satisfactions. If it feels oddly familiar, it’s probably because people have been quoting Marcus Aurelius for hundreds of years! Ar fi, mă gîndesc, strigătul de exasperare al unui cititor pragmatic, care înțelege dintr-o dată puținul folos adus de cărți. Ar reprezenta astfel un reproș adus omului care citește în loc să ia parte la viața publică. Reproșul este perfect stoic. Seninătatea, apatheia nu se obțin prin răsfoirea cărților, ci prin exercițiu spiritual, prin meditație asiduă la destin, natură și moarte. În concluzie, convingerea lui Marcus Aurelius pare să fi fost aceasta: cînd te confrunți cu bătrînețea, cu fragilitatea ființei umane, cu moartea, cărțile (și lectura) sînt de puțin folos. Seneca a afirmat același lucru: e mult mai util să meditezi la un scurt pasaj decît să răsfoiești zilnic mormane de cărți. Ca filosof din stirpea stoicilor, împăratul Marcus Aurelius nu a iubit prea mult cărțile, dar nu cred că a fost un bibliofob veritabil...

Multă vreme, lucrarea lui Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 - 180) a rămas necunoscută. Observațiile împăratului, scrise în limba greacă (și nu în latină), așa era moda printre nobili (Atena cucerise deja Roma), între anii 170 și 180, au fost tipărite abia în 1558, după un manuscris azi pierdut. Împăratul consemna sugestii, vorbea cu sine, reflecta, veghea. Nu a avut deloc vanitate de autor. Don't read it as a scholar, you will end up like this reviewer. As I said earlier - He is like the wisdom of ages. Aargh :) Not that it is all bad - it is like reading an old uncles's notes after he has been preaching to you all your life. Turning now to Marcus Aurelius, we can appreciate how he imbibed the wisdom not only from the Stoics (along with Seneca and Epictetus, Marcus is considered one of the three major Roman Stoics), but he was also willing to learn from the schools of Epicurus, Plato and Aristotle. In the Greco-Roman world, being eclectic was perfectly acceptable; truth was valued over who said what. Speak both in the senate and to every man, whoever he may be, appropriately, not with any affectation: use plain discourse."It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own. Marcus Aurelius is full of logic and revealing comments about life, death and the universe. His meditations are very open and very honest. And I found them quite touching. The history of his reign as Roman Emperor is impressive, but behind all his success was a very human person struggling and suffering with the same problems that plague all of us. He comes to terms with his mortality and his insignificance in the face of history and time. We are all of us only here a brief time, and we need to make the most of it. The key ideas get repetitive throughout the book. Some would probably prefer to read it with breaks. You can start reading it from any chapter. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it almost in a single sitting. The writing style is accessible. The book makes us reflect on ourselves and the world around us.