Meditations (Penguin Classics) by Marcus Aurelius (1995) Mass Market Paperback

Marcus Aurelius was the Roman emperor from 161 to 180, as well as being an important Stoic philosopher. (He was possibly also a persecutor of Christians, during his otherwise relatively peaceful reign.)He advises, “Think of your many years of procrastination; how the gods have repeatedly granted you further periods of grace, of which you have taken no advantage. It is time now to realize the nature of the universe to which you belong, and of that controlling Power whose offspring you are; and to understand that your time has a limit set to it. Use it, then, to advance your enlightenment; or it will be gone, and never in your power again.” (Pg. 46)He observes, “Were you to live three thousand years, or even thirty thousand, remember that the sole life which a man can lose is that which he is living at the moment… this means that the longest life and the shortest amount to the same thing… For the sole thing of which any man can be deprived is the present; since this is all he owns, and nobody can lose what is not his.” (Pg. 49-50)He notes, “After all, what is it that frets you? The vices of humanity” Remember the doctrine that all rational beings are created for one another; that toleration is a part of justice; and that men are not intentional evildoers. Think of the myriad enmities, suspicions, animosities, and conflicts that are now vanished with the dust and ashes of the men who knew them, and fret no more.” (Pg. 63-64)He points out, “The man whose heart is palpitating for fame after death does not reflect that out of all those to remember him every one will himself soon be dead also, and in course of time every one will himself son be dead also, and in the course of time the next generation after that, until in the end… the final spark of memory is quenched. Furthermore, even supposing that those who remember you were never to die at all, nor their memories to die either, yet what is that to you? Clearly, in your grave, nothing; and even in your lifetime, what is the good of praise---unless maybe to subserve some lesser design?” (Pg. 67)He argues that reality is “Either a universe that is all order, or else a farrago thrown together at random yet somehow forming a universe. But can there be some measure of order subsisting in yourself, and at the same time disorder in the greater Whole? And that, too, when oneness of feeling exists between all the parts of nature, in spite of their divergence and dispersion?” (Pg. 69)He laments, “As for truth, it is so veiled in obscurity that many … philosophers assert the impossibility of reaching any certain knowledge… Or turn from this to more material things: how transitory, how worthless are these---open to acquisition by every profligate, loose woman, and criminal… In all this murk and mire, then… I can think of nothing that is worth prizing highly or pursuing seriously.” (Pg. 82)He states, “Matter in the universe is supple and compliant, and the Reason which controls it has not motive for ill-doing; for it is without malice, and does nothing with intent to injure, neither is anything harmed by it. By its ordinances all things have their birth and their fulfillment.” (Pg. 91)He asserts, “Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you… Out of the eternal substance, as out of wax, Nature fashions a colt, then breaks him up and uses the material to form a tree, and after that a men, and next some other thing; and not one of these endures for more than a brief span. As for the vessel itself, it is no greater hardship to be taken to pieces than to be put together.” (Pg. 109)He asks, “When you have done a good action, and another has had the benefit of it, why crave for yet more in addition---applause for your kindness, or some favor in return---as the foolish do?” (Pg. 118)He says, “He who fears death either fears to lose all sensation or fears new sensations. In reality, you will either feel nothing at all, and therefore nothing evil, or else, if you can feel any new sensations, you will be a new creature, and so will not have ceased to have life.” (Pg. 134)He notes, “Nature herself makes no distinction---and if she did, she would not have brought pains and pleasures into existence side by side---it behooves those who would follow in her footsteps to be like-minded and exhibit the same indifference.” (Pg. 137-138)He points out, “things are either isolated units, or they form one inseparable whole. If that whole be God, then all is well; but if aimless chance, at least you need not be aimless also.” (Pg. 144)He counsels, “Reflect how often all the life of today is a repetition of the past; and observe that it also presages what is to come. Review the many complete dramas and their settings, all so similar, which you have known in your own experience, or from bygone history… The performance is always the same’; it is only the actors who change.” (Pg. 159)This is a fine edition of a “classic” of Roman and Stoic philosophy, that will be of great interest to those studying the subject.