Top 500 Marcus Aurelius Quotes (2026 Update)
Page 8 of 10

351. “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

352. “Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to raise themselves above one another, and crouch before one another.”

— Marcus Aurelius

353. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

355. “Socrates used to call the opinions of the many by the name of Lamiae, bugbears to frighten children.”

— Marcus Aurelius

356. “It were well to die if there be gods, and sad to live if there be none.”

— Marcus Aurelius

357. “Know the joy of life by piling good deed on good deed until no rift or cranny appears between them.”

— Marcus Aurelius

358. “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

359. “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

360. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

367. “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

368. “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

369. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

372. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

374. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

376. “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

377. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

379. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

381. “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

382. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

384. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

386. “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

387. “Do not be ashamed of help.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

390. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

393. “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

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— 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. “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

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. “The universal nature out of the universal substance, as if it were wax, now molds a horse, and when it has broken this up, it uses the material for a tree, then for a man, then for something else...”

— Marcus Aurelius