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 Quotations
We found 67 matching quotations.
Whatever happens it all happens as it should thou wilt find this true, if thou shouldst watch closely.
How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.
No form of Nature is inferior to Art for the arts merely imitate natural forms.
Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible; life in a palace is possible; therefore even in a palace a right life is possible.
Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.
Very little is needed to make a happy life.
The sinners sins against himself; the wrongdoer wrongs himself, becoming the worse by his own action.
Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
Whatever is in any way beautiful hath its source of beauty in itself, and is complete in itself; praise forms no part of it. So it is none the worse nor the better for being praised.
The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.
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.
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.
This Being of mine, whatever it really is, consists of a little flesh, a little breath, and the part which governs.
Remember this-that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.
To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
All the blessings which you pray to obtain hereafter could be yours today, if you did not deny them to yourself.
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
A man does not sin by commission only, but often by omission.
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.
Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.
Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing.
As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land but the fame that comes after is oblivion.
How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.
By a tranquil mind I mean nothing else than a mind well ordered.
To refrain from imitation is the best revenge.
Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before.
It is the act of a madman to pursue impossibilities.
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.
Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.
'Let thine occupations be few,' saith the sage, 'if thou wouldst lead a tranquil life.'
Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.
You will find rest from vain fancies if you perform every act in life as though it were your last.
All is ephemeral--fame and the famous as well.
To stand up -- or be setup?
All of us are working together for the same end; some of us knowingly and purposefully, others unconsciously.
Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself
Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself!
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
If it is not seemly, do it not if it is not true, speak it not.
Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.
Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.
A wrong-doer is often a man that has left something undone, not always he that has done something.
It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.
A man does not sin by commission only, but often by ommission.
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore guard accordingly; and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue, and reasonable nature.
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
Look well into thyself there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.
Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back.
Look beneath the surface let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.
Nothing happens to any thing which that thing is not made by nature to bear.
Waste no more time arguing what a god man should be. Be one.
A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all - that is myself.
Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.
Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.
How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.
Virtue they will but abuse, and taunt her with bitter revilling.
A candour affected is a dagger concealed.
All is ephemeral,--fame and the famous as well.
What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.
Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live death is nigh at hand while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.
One whose chief regard is for his own mind, and for the divinity within him and the service of its goodness, will strike no poses, utter no complaints, and crave neither for solitude nor yet for a crowd. Best of all, his life will be free from continual pursuing and avoiding.
It is a sin to persue pleasure as a good and to avoid pain as a evil.
Things that have a common quality ever quickly seek their kind.
Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith.