Top 500 Marcus Aurelius Quotes (2026 Update)
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351. “The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and not to say, I wish for green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye.”

— Marcus Aurelius

352. “The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

354. “He who eats my bread, does my will.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

357. “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

358. “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

359. “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

360. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

364. “Stick to what’s in front of you – idea, action, utterance.”

— Marcus Aurelius

365. “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

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

368. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

370. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

372. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

374. “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

375. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

377. “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

378. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

381. “Do not be ashamed of help.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— 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. “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

387. “A rational nature admits of nothing but what is serviceable to the rest of mankind.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

389. “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

390. “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

391. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

393. “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

394. “The lot assigned to every man is suited to him, and suits him to itself.”

— Marcus Aurelius

395. “Why should any of these things that happen externally distract thee? Give thyself leisure to learn some good thing: cease roving to and fro.”

— Marcus Aurelius

396. “That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before.”

— Marcus Aurelius

397. “Death – a stopping of impressions through the senses, and of the pulling of the cords of motion, and of the ways of thought, and of service to the flesh.”

— Marcus Aurelius

398. “Always run to the short way; and the short way is the natural: accordingly say and do everything in conformity with the soundest reason. For such a purpose frees a man from trouble, and warfare, and all artifice and ostentatious display.”

— Marcus Aurelius

399. “Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.”

— Marcus Aurelius

400. “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