Marcus Aurelius' meditations are among the most influential words ever written.
Two millennia ago, the world's most powerful man spent his evenings alone, journalling his thoughts. He never even meant to publish them, but they're still so relevant:
1. “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.”
2. “Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions - not outside.”
3. “Everything that happens is either endurable or not. If it's endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining.”
4. “You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you. Things can't shape our decisions by themselves.”
5. “If it isn't ceasing to live that you're afraid of but never beginning to live properly... then you'll be worthy of the world that made you.”
6. “Stop talking about what the good man is like, and just be one.”
7. “You can also commit injustice by doing nothing.”
8. “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
9. “Watch the courses of the stars as if you revolved with them. Keep constantly in mind how the elements alter into one another. Thoughts like this wash off the mud of life below.”
10. “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: "I have to go to work - as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for - the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?"
- But it's nicer here...
So you were born to feel "nice"? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don't you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you're not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren't you running to do what your nature demands?”
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