Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

[deleted] · 2013-12-25T23:22:35+00:00

Great book. It's actually a compilation of his private notes he took throughout his life. It's amazing to read the reflections of such a great man. He was the Roman Emperor, mind you. Great piece of Stoic wisdom. Available on gutenberg.org. Here are some quotes from the book:

To live each day as though one’s last, never flustered, never apathetic, never attitudinizing—here is the perfection of character.
Take it that you have died today, and your life’s story is ended; and henceforward regard what future time may be given you as an uncovenanted surplus, and live it out in harmony with your nature.
The art of life is more like the wrestler’s art than the dancer’s.
Every man is worth just so much as the things are worth about which he busies himself.
You must be like a promontory of the sea, against which the waves beat continually, yet it both itself stands, and about it are those swelling waves stilled and quieted.

[deleted] · 2013-12-24T09:01:36+00:00

Marcus Aurelius was one of Rome's greatest emperors. At this time, a roman emperor was essentially god. This book is basically a number guidelines he gives himself to constrain himself in light of the fact that nothing and no one can control him.

I think anyone could benefit from reading this book. People who feel beaten down or people who are almost untouchable will find this book thought provoking.

PROS 1) you don't need to read it straight through. It's cut into tiny bits. You could read a sentence or an entire chapter. It's very accessible. 2) it's designed to make you think so you could read it at different stages of your life and it will still be relevant. 3) no matter what translation you get, it's not very long.

Con If you're not an abstract thinker, or need things spelled out for you, you'll find this book tedious.

Quote- Spend no more time contemplating what a good man should be, simply be it.

MrFritzH · 2013-12-24T20:07:37+00:00

BTW this is of course free online, no need for amazon links

rogueman999 · 2014-02-09T22:39:37+00:00

Very good. The edition I read started with some history on the guy, which helps to explain a bit how the book goes. First 10 years of his rule were ok - he had time to think and writing flows easily. Last 10 years - shit hit the fan. Family died, war all over (spent most time on campaign) and to top it off his son turns out to be a psychopath - which he must have sensed.

So if you feel the later "chapters" are getting dark and repetitive, it's not just you. Feel free to stop reading about a third way in.

Also, pick up some Senecca. Also a stoic, but one who thought about life a lot more then about death.

[deleted] · 2013-12-24T05:43:40+00:00

I think everyone should read this book at least once.

Why? Not to discourage you from posting, but what is the difference between, say, harry potter on dumbledore fanfic and this? Why should I invest my time in reading this? Even a short quote to grab out attention or a minor summary of the contents would increase the quality of your post a lot.

emptyform · 2013-12-31T19:57:18+00:00

Anyone have recommendations on alternate free translations? This one seems to be a bit Old Englishy.

SE17 · 2014-01-11T10:48:01+00:00

http://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/1uy16w/tldr_the_meditations_of_marcus_aurelius/

Title	Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	28
Comments	9
Date	December 23, 2013 5:15 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/RedPillBooks
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/redpillbooks/comments/1tjgo5/meditations_by_marcus_aurelius/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RedPillBooks/meditations-by-marcus-aurelius.251069 https://theredarchive.com/post/251069