Tanosei hito's Key Ideas from The Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius

Marcus repeatedly explains why the pursuit of fame and praise is foolish and why we especially should not care about what others think of us after we die. He points out that so many famous men have been forgotten, that those who would praise one posthumously will themselves soon die. He explains that there are no immortal actions. He also explains that nothing is made better by praise, the beauty of things comes from the thing itself and not what people say about it. 

Marcus Aurelius’s strongest philosophy comes when he speaks on the eternally changing nature of the universe and the acceptance of death. He reminds us that all of us will die, however, we only ever lose the present moment because that is all we ever have. Nobody “loses more” by dying early. The longest and shortest life will end the same way and be finished for the same eternity.

He also reminds us that we could die at any moment and to live to the fullest while we still can.

Being superior to pain and pleasure allows us to fully accept the course of nature and focus on being virtuous. Our perceptions of events as troublesome are the real source of any unhappiness we experience, not the events themselves. Marcus believed that a person could immediately wipe any upsetting impressions from their mind and be at peace. He also recommended remembering the following whenever we experience anxiety

Marcus knew that our ability to reason is what sets us apart from the animals and is an important power that we must use to the fullest. He believed (like all Stoics) that our reason could be used to understand the universal reason present in nature, which would lead to agreement with it even if events seemed harmful. Our rational minds have complete power over our opinions and the mind only experiences suffering when it itself creates a desire for a specific outcome in life.

• The most important lesson to take away from Meditations is that our minds have great power.
• People will always do awful (or at least unpleasant) things and we are only responsible for our own virtue.
• The deepest lesson in Meditations relates to our mortality and the shortness of life.