Marcus Aurelius' ( thoughts from his writings)

I have been reading the old writings of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his thoughts and wisdom.  I wanted to share some with you.  He was considered one of the '5 good emperors' and I can only imagine the great man he was with the thoughts he left behind.  Enjoy and I hope you will also come across to his writings and reflections.  ***

     "When someone wrongs you, ask yourself:  What made him do it?  Once you understand his concept of good and evil, you'll feel sorry for him and cease to be either amazed or angry.  If his concept is similar to yours, then you are bound to forgive him since you would have acted as he did in similar circumstances.  But if you do not share his ideas of good and evil, then you should find it even easier to overlook the wrongs of someone who is confused and in a moral muddle." Book Seven- #26

     "How lovely the soul that is prepared--when its hour comes to slough off this flesh--for extinction, dispersion, or survival!  But this readiness should result from a personal decision, not from sheer contrariness like the Christians, and manifest itself deliberately and soberly, in a convincing manner, without histrionics.'  Book 11 #3

     "From my Father's reputation and my memory of him, I learned modesty and manliness.  From my mother I learned to fear God and t be generous, to refuse not only to do evil to to think it, and a simplicity of life far removed from the habits of the rich."  Book 1 #'s 2 & 3

     "Be mindful at all times of the following:  the nature of the whole universe, the nature of the part that is me, the relation of the one to the other, the one so vast, the other so small.  No one can ever prevent me from saying and doing what is in complete conformity with the whole of which I am so small yet integral a part." Book two #9

     "After curing many illnesses, Hippocrates became ill himself and died.  The Chaldaean astrologers predicted the deaths of many before their own fatal hours struck.  Alexander, Pompey and Julius Caesar sacked and ruined countless cities and maimed and slaughtered untold thousands of soldiers and horses, and then they too departed this life.  Heraclitus, after endless speculation on the destruction of the universe by fire, drowned in his own juices, plastered with cow dung.  Lice got the better of Democritus, and vermin of another sort killed Socrates.

     So, what's the point of it all?  Simply this.  You embarked: you sailed; you landed.  Now, disembark!  If it is to start a new life, you will find the gods there too.  If it is to lose all consciousness, you will be liberated from the tyranny of pleasure and pain and from your bondage to an earthly shell that is vastly inferior to the master contained in it.  For the spirit is intelligent and godlike whereas the body is blood and dust"  Book three #3

     "Nature insists upon whatever benefits the whole"  Book4#9

     "Don't act as though you'll live to be a thousand.  Your days are numbered like everyone else's.  In what remains of your allotted time, while you still can, become good." Book Four #17

     "Cherish your gifts, however humble, and take pleasure in them.  Spend the rest of your days looking only to the gods from whom comes every good gift and seeing no man as either master or slave."  Book Four #31

     " As Epictetus said, " You  are but a soul propping up a corpse."  Book four 41

     "Someone wrongs me.  Why should I care?  That's his business-his inclinations and actions are up to him.  I care only about what the universal nature wills for me, and I do what my own nature wills.  Book Five #25.

     "Let this be your one joy and delight; to go from one act of kindness to another with your mind fixed on God."  Book Six #7

     "Death brought Alexander of Macedon and his stable boy to the same end.  Either they returned to the great womb from which all things are born, or they disintegrated and scattered into indistinguishable atoms." Book Six #24

     "Don't be a Caesar  drunk with power and self-importance; it happens all too easily.  Keep yourself simple, good, pure, sincere, natural, just, god-fearing, kind, affectionate, and devoted to your duty.  Strive to be the man your training in philosophy prepared you to be.  Fear God; serve mankind.  Life is short; the only good fruit to be harvested in this earthly realm requires a pious disposition and charitable behavior" Book Six # 30

     "It's time you recognized that you have something higher and more godlike within you than that which tweaks your emotions and pulls your strings.  So, what's controlling your mind at this moment? Fear, suspicion, lust, or is it some other vile thing?"  Book Twelve #19