Marcus Aurelius Quotes
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351. “How many after being celebrated by fame have been given up to oblivion; and how many who have celebrated the fame of others have long been dead.”

— Marcus Aurelius

352. “The one thing worth living for is to keep one’s soul pure.”

— Marcus Aurelius

353. “I am called to man’s labour; why then do I make a difficulty if I am going out to do what I was born to do and what I was brought into the world for?”

— Marcus Aurelius

354. “Do not be ashamed of help.”

— Marcus Aurelius

355. “The constant recollection of death is the test of human conduct.”

— Marcus Aurelius

356. “Though you break your heart, men will go on as before.”

— Marcus Aurelius

357. “As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, So does the one Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present.”

— Marcus Aurelius

358. “Art thou angry with him whose armpits stink? Art thou angry with him whose mouth smells foul?”

— Marcus Aurelius

359. “Dig within. There lies the wellspring of good.”

— Marcus Aurelius

360. “The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.”

— Marcus Aurelius

361. “Death hangs over thee, While thou still live, while thou may, do good.”

— Marcus Aurelius

362. “We are too much accustomed to attribute to a single cause that which is the product of several, and the majority of our controversies come from that.”

— Marcus Aurelius

363. “In one way an arrow moves, in another way the mind. The mind indeed, both when it exercises caution and when it is employed about inquiry, moves straight onward not the less, and to its object.”

— Marcus Aurelius

364. “Everything is mere opinion.”

— Marcus Aurelius

365. “An angry look on the face is wholly against nature. If it be assumed frequently, beauty begins to perish, and in the end is quenched beyond rekindling.”

— Marcus Aurelius

366. “And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.”

— Marcus Aurelius

367. “Remember that there is a God who desires neither praise nor glory from men created in his image, but rather that they, guided by the understanding given them, should in their actions become like unto him.”

— Marcus Aurelius

368. “Either an ordered Universe or a medley heaped together mechanically but still an order; or can order subsist in you and disorder in the Whole! And that, too, when all things are so distinguished and yet intermingled and sympathetic.”

— Marcus Aurelius

369. “Retire into thyself. The rational principle which rules has this nature, that it is content with itself when it does what is just, and so secures tranquility.”

— Marcus Aurelius

370. “To my great-grandfather I owed the advice to dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead – and to realize that no expense should be grudged for this purpose.”

— Marcus Aurelius

371. “Think of the universal substance, of which thou has a very small portion; and of universal time, of which a short and indivisible interval has been assigned to thee; and of that which is fixed by destiny, and how small a part of it thou art.”

— Marcus Aurelius

372. “To expect an impossibility is madness.”

— Marcus Aurelius

373. “Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things.”

— Marcus Aurelius

374. “Give your heart to the trade you have learnt, and draw refreshment from it. Let the rest of your days be spent as one who has whole-heartedly committed his all to the gods and is thenceforth no man’s master or slave.”

— Marcus Aurelius

375. “Nothing befalls a man except what is in his nature to endure.”

— Marcus Aurelius

376. “Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing.”

— Marcus Aurelius

377. “Remember that to change your mind and follow him who sets you right is to be none the less free than you were before.”

— Marcus Aurelius

378. “The most complete revenge is not to imitate the aggressor.”

— Marcus Aurelius

379. “All is Ephemeral, fame and the famous as well.”

— Marcus Aurelius

380. “It is a disgrace to let ignorance and vanity do more with us than prudence and principle.”

— Marcus Aurelius

381. “The whole contains nothing that is not for its advantage. By remembering that I am part of such a whole, I shall be content with everything that happens.”

— Marcus Aurelius

382. “He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which has taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time without end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.”

— Marcus Aurelius

383. “The honest and good man ought to be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander as soon as he comes near him must smell whether he choose or not.”

— Marcus Aurelius

384. “Reflect often upon the rapidity with which all existing things, or things coming into existence, sweep past us and are carried away.”

— Marcus Aurelius

385. “As far as you can, get into the habit of asking yourself in relation to any action taken by another: “What is his point of reference here?” But begin with yourself: examine yourself first.”

— Marcus Aurelius

386. “Put an end once and for all to this discussion of what a good person should be, and be one.”

— Marcus Aurelius

387. “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.”

— Marcus Aurelius

388. “Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. The universe is change, life is understanding.”

— Marcus Aurelius

389. “Let every action aim solely at the common good.”

— Marcus Aurelius

390. “There is change in all things. You yourself are subject to continual change and some decay, and this is common to the entire universe.”

— Marcus Aurelius

391. “All things are the same, familiar in enterprise, momentary in endurance, coarse in substance. All things now are as they were in the day of those whom we have buried.”

— Marcus Aurelius

392. “Accustom yourself not to be disregarding of what someone else has to say: as far as possible enter into the mind of the speaker.”

— Marcus Aurelius

393. “Even the stoics agree that certainty is very hard to come at; that our assent is worth little, for where is infallibility to be found?”

— Marcus Aurelius

394. “Find time still to be learning somewhat good, and give up being desultory.”

— Marcus Aurelius

395. “Everything is banal in experience, fleeting in duration, sordid in content; in all respects the same today as generations now dead and buried have found it to be.”

— Marcus Aurelius

396. “Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.”

— Marcus Aurelius

397. “Both happiness and unhappiness depend on perception.”

— Marcus Aurelius

398. “You exist but as a part inherent in a greater whole. Do not live as though you had a thousand years before you. The common due impends; while you live, and while you may, be good.”

— Marcus Aurelius

399. “But if we judge only those things which are in our power to be good or bad, there remains no reason either for finding fault with God or standing in a hostile attitude to man.”

— Marcus Aurelius

400. “Am I doing anything? I do it with reference to the good of mankind. Does anything happen to me? I receive it and refer it to the gods, and the source of all things, from which all that happens is derived.”

— Marcus Aurelius