Top 500 Marcus Aurelius Quotes (2024 Update)
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351. “Nothing can come out of nothing, any more than a thing can go back to nothing.”

— Marcus Aurelius

352. “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

353. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

355. “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

356. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

360. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

363. “No one can keep you from living as your nature requires. Nothings can happen to you that is not required by Nature.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

365. “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

366. “How easy it is to repel and release every impression which is troublesome and immediately to be tranquil.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

368. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

370. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

372. “Do not be ashamed of help.”

— Marcus Aurelius

373. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

379. “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

380. “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

381. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

384. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— Marcus Aurelius

388. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

390. “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

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

— Marcus Aurelius

392. “The happiness and unhappiness of the rational, social animal depends not on what he feels but on what he does; just as his virtue and vice consist not in feeling but in doing.”

— Marcus Aurelius

393. “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

394. “The mind in itself wants nothing, unless it creates a want for itself; therefore it is both free from perturbation and unimpeded, if it does not perturb and impede itself.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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

— 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. “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

398. “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

399. “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

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