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 ...

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 posthumo...

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. Ma...

• 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...

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 ...

Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful and important man in the world. He was emperor of Rome for almost two decades starting in the year 161 A.D.

Although Marcus was a powerful ruler, his problems appear to be surprisingly similar to the problems we all face daily. For exam...