Marcus Aurelius
Discard everything except these few truths: we can live only in the present moment, in this brief now; all the rest of our life is dead and buried or shrouded in uncertainty. Short is the life we lead, and small our patch of earth.Collection: Earth
Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.Collection: Inspirational
It is a shameful thing for the soul to faint while the body still perseveres.Collection: Inspirational
Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.Collection: Happiness
If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.Collection: Judgment
Confine yourself to the present.Collection: Philosophical
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.Collection: Believe
Everything is interwoven, and the web is holy.Collection: Holy
Embellish the soul with simplicity, with prudence, and everything which is neither virtuous nor vicious. Love all men. Walk according to God; for, as a poet hath said, his laws govern all.Collection: Men
The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around them. That's all you need to know. Nothing more. Don't demand to know "why such things exist." Anyone who understands the world will laugh at you, just as a carpenter would if you seemed shocked at finding sawdust in his workshop, or a shoemaker at scraps of leather left over from work.Collection: Laughing
In this flowing stream, then, on which there is no abiding, what is there of the things which hurry by on which a man would set a high price? It would be just as if a man should fall in love with one of the sparrows which fly by, but it has already passed out of sight.Collection: Falling In Love
We must press on then, in haste; not simply because every hour brings us nearer to death, but because even before then our powers of perception and comprehension begin to deteriorate.Collection: Perception
The rottenness of the matter which is the foundation of everything!Collection: Foundation
There are three relations [between thee and other things]: the one to the body which surrounds thee; the second to the divine cause from which all things come to all; and the third to those who live with thee.Collection: Three
To a rational being it is the same thing to act according to nature and according to reason.Collection: Reason
Flinch not, neither give up nor despair, if the achieving of every act in accordance with right principle is not always continuous with thee.Collection: Giving Up
Why should any of these things that happen externally distract thee? Give thyself leisure to learn some good thing: cease roving to and fro.Collection: Giving
Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.Collection: Death
I bless the gods for not letting my education in rhetoric, poetry, and other literary studies come easily to me, and thereby sparing me from an absorbing interest in these subjects.Collection: Study
Glory arrives too late when it comes only to one's ashesCollection: Ashes
It is not the actions of others which trouble us (for those actions are controlled by their governing part), but rather it is our own judgments. Therefore remove those judgments and resolve to let go of your anger, and it will already be gone. How do you let go? By realizing that such actions are not shameful to you.Collection: Letting Go
Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light or look the world in the face.Collection: Light
Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.Collection: Path
The controlling Intelligence understands its own nature, and what it does, and whereon it works.Collection: Doe
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.Collection: Stars
Truth and ceremony are two things.Collection: Two
The nature of the universe is the nature of things that are. Now, things that are have kinship with things that are from the beginning. Further, this nature is styled Truth; and it is the first cause of all that is true.Collection: Firsts
Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? Art thou angry with him whose mouth smells foul?Collection: Art
Thou art a little soul bearing about a corpse.Collection: Art
The gods gave me a father who ruled over me and rid me of any trace of arrogance and showed me that one can live in a palace without bodyguards, extravagant attire, chandeliers, statues, and other luxuries. He taught me that it is possible to live instead pretty much in the manner of a private citizen without losing any of the dignity and authority a ruler must possess to discharge his imperial duties effectively.Collection: Father
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong-doer.Collection: Peace
Because a thing is difficult for you, do not therefore suppose it to be beyond mortal power. On the contrary, if anything is possible and proper for man to do, assume that it must fall within your own capacity.Collection: Fall
The passing minute is every man's equal possession but what has once gone by is not ours.Collection: Time
Purge your mind of all aimless and idle thoughts, especially those that pry into the affairs of others or wish them ill.Collection: Mind
Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before his moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus.Collection: Views
Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.Collection: Thankful
Live your life as if you are ready to say goodbye to it at any moment, as if the time left for you were some pleasant surprise.Collection: Goodbye
The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts.Collection: Wise
If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. It is in your power to erase this judgment about it. If anything in your own nature gives you pain, you are who hinders you from correcting your opinion.Collection: Pain
External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now.Collection: Assessment
You have to assemble your life yourself - action by action.Collection: Action
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 ... then make that day count!Collection: Thinking
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.Collection: Hate
If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.Collection: Men
Don't be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you've been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?Collection: Motivational
Remember that there is a God who desires neither praise nor glory from men created in his image, but rather that they, guided by the understanding given them, should in their actions become like unto him.Collection: Men
A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for.Collection: Inspiration
Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed.Collection: Life
Nothing that goes on in anyone else's mind can harm you.Collection: Mind