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Marcus Aurelius

54 quotes

Marcus Aurelius (121–180 AD) was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher whose personal journal, known as *Meditations*, has become one of the most enduring works of practical philosophy ever written. Composed during military campaigns, his reflections on duty, resilience, and inner peace continue to guide readers seeking wisdom in turbulent times.

“Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things which are, and to make new things like them.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Change

All Quotes by Marcus Aurelius

“Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'”

— Marcus Aurelius

Future

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Life

“That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Good

“How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Time

“You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Good

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

— Marcus Aurelius

Power

“Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Design

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Truth

“Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Good

“Do every act of your life as if it were your last.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Life

“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 opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Men

“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

Life

“Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Men

“Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Strength

“We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Good

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Future

“Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Nature

“Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Work

“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Change

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

— Marcus Aurelius

Imagination