One of the most incredible things about Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations was that he wrote the book only for himself; he never intended for it to be published or read by anyone else. I think this makes the original work seem all the more powerful. Marcus wrote these brilliant, incredibly lucid passages for himself, and for nobody else. He was a humble man who was trying to do his best to live up to his principles, and he was absolutely not trying to preach.

On Meditations: Part I

When you smell rotting garbage or experience physical pain, your answer is “This is uncomfortable. You are bad.” To the Stoics, this is not ideal. Instead, try to be objective and quiet your inner discourse with the world. See things only as they are, and resist the temptation to add your own thoughts and impressions. Do not judge the value of things in the world, because they are all equal and they are all outside your control anyway.

Judge everything objectively: Part II

You must eliminate all prejudice. See things as they are, and never as anything else. “To lay them bare… to strip away the legend that encrusts them,” Marcus says. When you experience things in the world, in a sense you’re having a dialogue. You see a painting and the painting seems to ask you “Do you like me?” and you respond internally, “I like you. You are good.”

Judge everything objectively: Part I

<blockquote>There are two kinds of things in the world– those you can control and those you cannot. Accept the things you cannot and work ceaselessly to perfect the things you can.</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote>That’s it. It’s a very simple philosophy. Or as Hadot says, “There is no good but moral good, and there is no evil but moral evil.” In other words, the good/evil dichotomy exists only inside one’s mind and actions.

On Stoicism in general: Part I

Your weaknesses are actually your strengths if you frame them correctly in your mind, and when you encounter something blocking your path, it is merely a chance to practice some new virtue that you have been neglecting. Patience, tolerance, persistence, courage, or something else. If you don’t love your fate and respectfully submit to whatever the world throws at you, you will just get stuck complaining about things and feeling sorry for yourself.

Don’t wish your circumstances to be any different than they are: Part II

Hadot points out, by laboriously grouping together all the passages in Meditations which share a common theme, that there are in fact very few original simulate the words of others, turn them around in his head and reformulate them in a way that makes sense to him. They’re not neat or coherent, and they’re not indexed. Hadot calls the writing of these thoughts a “spiritual exercise.”

On Meditations: Part II

In the Inner Citadel, Hadot applies to Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations his characteristic interpretative approach: treating ancient philosophy as a “way of life” in particular one which provides its students with “spiritual exercises” to enable them to make progress towards wisdom and treating ancient philosophical texts with attention to the “forms of discourse” or constraints of genre, tradition, and audience that affected their production.

The Inner Citadel

The second point is to love your fate and to fearlessly accept whatever happens to you without complaint. The Stoics had a complicated relationship with Destiny or Fate, but the basic point is that you shouldn’t complain. Anything bad that happens is not an obstacle, but it is actually an opportunity.

Don’t wish your circumstances to be any different than they are: Part I

The Stoic says that everything else– disease, war, suffering, others’ aggression toward you– is completely neutral and is neither good nor evil.This is what is meant by “The Inner Citadel.” The Stoics believed that your soul is your stronghold. It’s the only thing over which you have complete control and striving to perfect your soul your intentions is the only thing that matters in life.

On Stoicism in general: Part II

<ul><li> Judge everything objectively</li><li>Don’t wish your circumstances to be any different than they are.</li><li>Be fair, generous, and dignified, both to yourself and to others.</li></ul>

There are three pieces to the Stoic conception of the good life. They are:

The first two principles deal with the right thoughts and frame of mind. This is all nice in theory, but what principles should guide our actions day-to-day? What does Stoicism look like in its practical application? That’s number three– right actions. First: you must concentrate every minute on doing what you know is right, on living each minute like it will be your last, and, as Marcus says, “worship your inner power.”

Be fair, generous, and dignified, both to yourself and to others.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius are treasured today--as they have been over the centuries--as an inexhaustible source of wisdom. And as one of the three most important expressions of Stoicism, this is an essential text for everyone interested in ancient religion and philosophy. Yet the clarity and ease of the work's style are deceptive. Pierre Hadot, eminent historian of ancient thought, uncovers new levels of meaning and expands our understanding of its underlying philosophy. Written by the Roman emperor for his own private guidance and self-admonition, the Meditations set forth principles for living a good and just life. Hadot probes Marcus Aurelius's guidelines and convictions and discerns the hitherto unperceived conceptual system that grounds them. Abundantly quoting the Meditations to illustrate his analysis, the author allows Marcus Aurelius to speak directly to the reader. And Hadot unfolds for us the philosophical context of the Meditations, commenting on the philosophers Marcus Aurelius read and giving special attention to the teachings of Epictetus, whose disciple he was. The soul, the guiding principle within us, is in Marcus Aurelius's Stoic philosophy an inviolable stronghold of freedom, the "inner citadel." This spirited and engaging study of his thought offers a fresh picture of the fascinating philosopher-emperor, a fuller understanding of the tradition and doctrines of Stoicism, and rich insight on the culture of the Roman empire in the second century. Pierre Hadot has been working on Marcus Aurelius for more than twenty years; in this book he distills his analysis and conclusions with extraordinary lucidity for the general reader.

On Stoicism in general: Part I

The Inner Citadel

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