![]() ![]() “Suppose that a god announced that you were going to die tomorrow “or the day after.” Unless you were a complete coward you wouldn’t kick up a fuss about which day it was–what difference could it make? Now recognize that the difference between years from now and tomorrow is just as small.” Marcus Aurelius And on freeing yourself from all other distractions.” Marcus Aurelius “Concentrate every minute like a Roman–like a man–on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. “Time is a river, a violent current of events, glimpsed once and already carried past us, and another follows and is gone.” Marcus Aurelius We expel the power of breathing we drew in at birth (just yesterday or the day before), breathing it out like the air we exhale at each moment.” Marcus Aurelius And life itself: like the decoction of blood, the drawing in of air. “Like an attachment to a sparrow: we glimpse it and it’s gone. Which of the things around us should we value when none of them can offer a firm foothold?” Marcus Aurelius Change and flux constantly remake the world, just as the incessant progression of time remakes eternity. “Some things are rushing into existence, others out of it. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life?” Marcus Aurelius “If you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. Sum up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion.” Marcus Aurelius They’re all reminders, originally to self, but now to us to make the most of this life, to expend time on only what is essential, to stop wasting time. ![]() Marcus Aurelius weighed every sentence he spoke and every action he took with a question: “is this necessary?” When the answer to that question is exclusively, “yes,” you will have enough time in the day.īelow are 50 quotes from Meditations. We waste time, we busy ourselves, we prioritize trivialities. He wrote incessantly about brevity, living presently, and identifying then removing nonessentials-reminders to live a good and full life. Those writings survive to us today published as Meditations. He decompressed, reviewed the day and decided how he could improve. ![]() Still, he became Rome’s greatest leader.Įvery night, Marcus Aurelius sat down to write. At a time when Rome was dealing with horrible plagues and foreign attacks, Marcus likely would have rathered the time to pursue his intellectual interests in subjects like Greek and Latin, but mostly, Stoicism. Not born into the royal lineage, Marcus Aurelius was chosen for the throne. Marcus Aurelius is relentless about it though. The Stoics talk about deciding what’s essential. Maybe we say yes to too many things, maybe there’s comfort in pushing things to later, or maybe we’re just unaware that our priorities are misplaced. There never seems to be enough of it in the day. There’s an inconsistency that sneaks into our relationship with time. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |