Top 500 Marcus Aurelius Quotes (2025 Update)
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351. “Know the joy of life by piling good deed on good deed until no rift or cranny appears between them.”

— Marcus Aurelius

352. “When you find an unwillingness to rise early in the morning, endeavor to rouse your faculties, and act up to your kind, and consider that you have to do the business of a man; and that action is both beneficial and the end of your being.”

— Marcus Aurelius

353. “Give full attention and devotion to each act.”

— Marcus Aurelius

354. “Praise adds nothing to beauty – makes it neither better nor worse.”

— Marcus Aurelius

355. “Do not be ashamed of help.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

358. “The man who doesn’t know what the universe is doesn’t know where he lives.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

360. “My city and state are Rome. But as a human being? The world. So for me, “good” can only mean what’s good for both communities.”

— Marcus Aurelius

361. “Receive the gifts of fortune without pride, and part with them without reluctance.”

— Marcus Aurelius

362. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

364. “Time is a kind of river, an irresistible flood sweeping up men and events and carrying them headlong, one after the other, to the great sea of being.”

— Marcus Aurelius

365. “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

366. “There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his deathbed won’t hail the occasion with delight.”

— Marcus Aurelius

367. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

370. “Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quit your modesty or inclines you to any practice which will not bear the light or look the world in the face.”

— Marcus Aurelius

371. “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

372. “Things can never touch the soul, but stand inert outside it, so that disquiet can arise only from fancies within.”

— Marcus Aurelius

373. “I can at once become happy anywhere, for he is happy who has found himself a happy lot. In a word, happiness lies all in the functions of reason, in warrantable desires and virtuous practice.”

— Marcus Aurelius

374. “Everything is here for a purpose, from horses to vine shoots. What’s surprising about that? Even the sun will tell you, “I have a purpose,” and the other goods as well.”

— Marcus Aurelius

375. “Nature insists on whatever benefits the whole.”

— Marcus Aurelius

376. “For outward show is a wonderful perverter of the reason.”

— Marcus Aurelius

377. “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

378. “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

379. “And what after all is everlasting fame? Altogether vanity.”

— Marcus Aurelius

380. “Not even the vicissitudes of fortune are contrary to nature or to the providential ordering of the universe. It all flows from the gods, who determine what is needed for the welfare of the whole universe, of which you are a part.”

— Marcus Aurelius

381. “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

382. “Why do we shrink from change? What can come into being save by change?”

— Marcus Aurelius

383. “Happiness is no other than soundness and perfection of mind.”

— Marcus Aurelius

384. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

387. “This is the chief thing: be not perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universal.”

— Marcus Aurelius

388. “Remember this-that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life.”

— Marcus Aurelius

389. “The nature of the universe is the nature of things that are. Now, things that are have kinship with things that are from the beginning. Further, this nature is styled Truth; and it is the first cause of all that is true.”

— Marcus Aurelius

390. “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

391. “Each of us needs what nature gives us, when nature gives us.”

— Marcus Aurelius

392. “Nothing is evil which is according to nature.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

394. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

396. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

398. “Consider frequently the connection of all things in the universe and their relation to one another. For things are somehow implicated with one another, and all in a way friendly to one another.”

— Marcus Aurelius

399. “Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.”

— Marcus Aurelius

400. “It is not right to vex ourselves at things, for they care not about it.”

— Marcus Aurelius