Looking for some powerful stoicism quotes by Marcus Aurelius? We have rounded up the best collection of Marcus Aurelius quotes, sayings, captions (with images, pictures, and wallpapers) about life, love, death, anger, change, calm, peace, and more.
Who was Marcus Aurelius?
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good Emperors, and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD
After his death, the empire quickly descended into civil war. He has symbolized the Golden Age of the Roman Empire for many generations in the West.
What is Marcus Aurelius Famous For?
Marcus Aurelius is best known for being the philosopher king. He wrote the Meditations, a piece of stoicism that would be influential in western philosophy
Marcus Aurelius reigned as Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE and is best known as the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome (following Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius) and as the author of the philosophical work Meditations.
Growing up, Marcus Aurelius was a dedicated student, learning Latin and Greek. But his greatest intellectual interest was Stoicism, a philosophy that emphasized fate, reason, and self-restraint.
Marcus Aurelius Philosophy (Stoicism)
Marcus Aurelius’s strongest philosophy comes when he speaks on the eternally changing nature of the universe and the acceptance of death.
Also See: Deep Philosophical Quotes
He reminds us that all of us will die, however, we only ever lose the present moment because that is all we ever have. Nobody “loses more” by dying early.
We know him today as one of the greatest Stoics, and below are some of Marcus Aurelius best quotes and sayings that are deep, meaningful, intellectual and wise.
Top 10 Marcus Aurelius Quotes
- “The best answer to anger is silence.” – Marcus Aurelius
quotes by marcus aurelius
- “Be content to seem what you really are.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Receive without conceit, release without struggle.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Each of us needs what nature gives us, when nature gives it.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “How soon will time cover all things, and how many it has covered already.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgments concerning them.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from the present – thoughtfully, justly.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.” – Marcus Aurelius
Most Famous Quotes By Marcus Aurelius
- “Nothing natural is evil.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Confine yourself to the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “What we do now echoes in eternity.” – Marcus Aurelius
quotes of marcus aurelius
- “All things fade and quickly turn to myth.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Give yourself a gift: the present moment.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” – Marcus Aurelius
quotes from marcus aurelius
- “A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “A man’s true delight is to do the things he was made for.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Both happiness and unhappiness depend on perception.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Tomorrow is nothing, today is too late; the good lived yesterday.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Life is short — the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Whoever values peace of mind and the health of the soul will live the best of all possible lives.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Think of all the years passed by in which you said to yourself “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and how the gods have again and again granted you periods of grace of which you have not availed yourself. It is time to realize that you are a member of the Universe, that you are born of Nature itself, and to know that a limit has been set to your time. Use every moment wisely, to perceive your inner refulgence, or ’twill be gone and nevermore within your reach.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Life And Death
- “The act of dying is one of the acts of life.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Do not be wise in words – be wise in deeds.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Your life is an expression of all your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
quotations by marcus aurelius
- “While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You have to assemble your life yourself – action by action.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius quotes images
- “Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “We live only now. Everything else is either passed or is unknown.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Let each thing you would do, say, or intend, be like that of a dying person.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Always bear this in mind, that very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Death is not an evil. What is it then? The one law mankind has that is free of all discrimination.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “No man can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “A brief existence is common to all things, and yet you avoid and pursue all things as if they would be eternal.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Time is a river, a violent current of events, glimpsed once and already carried past us, and another follows and is done.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “To live the good life: We have the potential for it. If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Death. The end of sense-perception, of being controlled by our emotions, of mental activity, of enslavement to our bodies.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Stop whatever you’re doing for a moment and ask yourself: ‘Am I afraid of death because I won’t be able to do this anymore?’” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “On the occasion of every act ask yourself, “How is this with respect to me? Will I regret it? A little time and I am dead, and all is gone”.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Death and pain are not frightening, it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear. Which is why we praise the poet who wrote, ‘Death is not fearful, but dying like a coward is.’” – Marcus Aurelius
- “But death and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure — all these things, equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill… I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Quotes Meditations (Book)
Meditation is a collection of 12 books written by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who’ll introduce you to Stoic philosophy, the concept of logic, and self-discipline, and give you faith that the course the world runs is a good one.
Here are 3 lessons from the book of one of the greatest philosophers;
- Logic doesn’t always make sense, but everything happens for a reason.
- Life is too short to complain.
- The only pain you suffer is the one you create yourself.
- “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
meditations marcus aurelius quotes
- “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
marcus aurelius meditations quotes
- “If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius quotes wallpaper
- “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
best marcus aurelius quotes
- “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
marcus aurelius quotes
- “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question, what fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
famous Marcus Aurelius quotes
- “If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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.” – Marcus Aurelius
Best Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Love
- “Though you break your heart, men will go on as before.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “As an antidote to battle unkindness we were given kindness.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “A person’s worth is measured by the worth of what he values.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Quotes on life
- “People exist for one another. You can instruct or endure them.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “What is divine deserves our affection because it is good; what is human deserves our affection because it is like us.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “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
- “The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do. Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew. Love is meant to bring us closer to God.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Shall any man hate me? That will be his affair. But I will be mild and benevolent toward every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly.” – Marcus Aurelius
Inspirational Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Leadership & Work
- “Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “To the wise, life is a problem; to the fool, a solution.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “That which isn’t good for the hive, isn’t good for the bee.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “No matter what anyone says or does, my task is to be good.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius quotes Stocism
- “No random actions, none not based on underlying principles” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Only attend to yourself, and resolve to be a good man in every act that you do.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you already have.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Perhaps there are none more lazy, or more truly ignorant, than your everlasting readers.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for?” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “First, do nothing inconsiderately or without a purpose. Second, make your acts refer to nothing else but a social end.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “To be feared is to fear: no one has been able to strike terror into others and at the same time enjoy peace of mind himself.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “‘Well, what will my profession in the community be?’ Whatever position you are equipped to fill, so long as you preserve the man of trust and integrity.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given, and not waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “Make sure you’re not made ‘Emperor,’ avoid that imperial stain. It can happen to you, so keep yourself simple, good, pure, saintly, plain, a friend of justice, god-fearing, gracious, affectionate, and strong for your proper work.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “When a guide meets up with someone who is lost, ordinarily his reaction is to direct him on the right path, not mock or malign him, then turn on his heel and walk away. As for you, lead someone to the truth and you will find that he can follow. But as long as you don’t point it out to him, don’t make fun of him; be aware of what you need to work on instead.” – Marcus Aurelius
More About Marcus Aurelius
Full name: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
Born: April 26, 121 AD, Rome, Italy
Died: March 17, 180 AD, Sirmium
Spouse: Faustina the Younger (m. 145 AD)
Children: Commodus, Lucilla, Marcus Annius Verus Caesar, MORE
Place of burial: Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, Italy
When Marcus Aurelius died and his successor took his place, the Roman world began a decline that would never recover. His extraordinary wisdom is among the most valuable we can study.
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