Marcus Aurelius (0121–0180)

“Timeless Wisdom for a Chaotic World” 5-Stars by Rebecca Raffle

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read Meditations in 2021, post-COVID, during a personal search for clarity and growth. It’s one of the few books that truly changed how I see the world.

Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor writing nearly 2,000 years ago, offers thoughts that feel as relevant today as they must have in ancient Rome. It’s proof (I thought, as I read it through a second time) that human struggles, fears, and show more desires haven’t really changed.

His words resonated with me so deeply that I’ve written quotes from this book on my bathroom mirror as daily reminders. One of my favorites:

“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

This book is not a structured philosophy guide, it’s personal reflections, written as reminders to himself, never meant for public eyes. That’s what makes it feel so raw, honest, and applicable to daily life.

Whether it’s about dealing with difficult people (“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.”) OR letting go of things beyond our control. Meditations grounds me. It helped me focus on what truly matters.

Why This Book Stands Out 🔥

✔️ Concise and Accessible – You can open it anywhere and find a piece of wisdom to reflect on.

✔️ A Reminder to Focus on What You Can Control – In a world full of uncertainty, this book helps recenter your mindset.

✔️ Practical, Not Abstract – Unlike some philosophy books, this isn’t about theory. It’s about how to live well, despite hardship.

Who Should Read This?

✔️ Anyone Going Through a Life Transition – This book grounds you when everything feels uncertain.

✔️ Those Interested in Stoicism but Unsure Where to Start – This is the perfect entry point.

✔️ Readers Looking for Wisdom That Actually Sticks – These aren’t just ideas; they’re daily practices that reshape your thinking.

Final Thoughts 😍

I’m giving Meditations 5 stars because it is one of the rare books I keep returning to. It’s not about ancient Rome, it’s about how to live with clarity, purpose, and resilience in an unpredictable world. No matter what’s happening in life, there’s always a line in this book that helps reset my perspective.

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A clean and lucid book about living right, written as easily digestible maxims by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. It is a very approachable work, written almost as 'notes to self' by the author, and this perhaps helps explain its continued popularity. It gives an insight – almost like a diary – into the author's own struggles with his character. This honesty and humility is what makes the book so approachable, and it is both heartening and distressing to realize that the problems of show more living right are the same now as they have ever been. But whilst I enjoyed a lot about it – and enjoyed having the thoughts and concepts roaming through my mind – I also had plenty of misgivings.

The Stoic philosophy that Meditations unpacks can sound simplistic when you try to summarize it, despite its intricacies, but I will try my best here. Basically, it boils down to living as an individual and not allowing the world to diminish your integrity, regardless of what it throws at you, for Nature has deemed it to be this way and to rebel against it would be to rebel against the natural order. Therefore, you should live in the moment, so to speak, and mould yourself to whatever comes along. There are other offshoots of this, but this is the core philosophy as I can sum it up briefly.

It all sounds very commendable – and some of it is. Some of the individual maxims are succinct quotations conveying a certain philosophical idea that is worth putting in your head and trying to orient your thoughts around. (Book 5.28 also gives advice on how to tell someone they have B.O.) Meditations is not lacking in poetry, and it would be all but impossible to read the book without generating some kind of intellectual stimulation. The main reason for my disquiet comes down to this: the notion that you should take life as it comes, regardless of content, is one that is not only unsound, but one that can lead to dangerous consequences.

This idea that you should be steadfast and unmoving against life's ups and downs – at one with the flowing river, so to speak – rests on the supposition that the way things are is actually the way things are meant to be. You have to accept concepts such as 'destiny' and a benevolent Nature as a given. In other words, you have to accept the idea of a God. Without it, the foundation upon which Aurelius' whole Stoic philosophy is built is absent.

Now, there will be many who will be able to accept this pre-supposition (that is what they call 'faith', after all), but the cold truth is that there is no objective basis for that assumption. In Book 5.8, is it suggested that we have to accept whatever life/nature brings our way, in the same way we would accept medicine from a doctor. However harsh the flavour of the medicine, we take it in the hopes of improving our health. On the surface that seems fine, but I would also suggest that you should be willing to question the competency of your doctor, or at least ask for evidence of his qualifications. I am unconvinced that you should just accept all of the bad things in the world (the good things also, but especially the bad) as all part of the benevolence of God, just as you would want a second opinion if a doctor says you have to lose the leg, or prescribes some powerful opiate. It seems to me that the appropriate response to witnessing the good and bad things in the world is not acceptance, but inquiry: trying to figure out what and why it is, testing different ideas, and that includes the idea that there is no god. And when you include the viability of atheism as a theory (not even its truth, but its mere viability), then the foundational assumption of Stoicism is washed away as though it was built on sand. On only one occasion, in Book 12.28, does Aurelius try to 'prove' that the god that is key to his philosophy actually exists. But even then, he only suggests that the gods exist because we experience the world which 'proves their power every day', which is a somewhat circular argument that any modern rationalist or philosopher would scoff at.

It might seem unfair to judge Meditations by modern standards, with our more advanced knowledge of science, biology, the universe, and so on, as well as the trails forged for us by subsequent philosophers. Indeed, plenty of Aurelius' maxims are mature, and he writes about atoms centuries before the rationalists of the Enlightenment picked up such theories again. He also talks about the Earth being but a tiny insignificant point in the universe (Book 4.3) many centuries before Carl Sagan had the Pale Blue Dot photograph published. This is not a small mind here. But if Meditations is to be of worth in the modern day, to modern readers living modern lives, it has to stand up to modern knowledge and modern critique. It often does, in parts, but it also has holes and, like the Roman ruins themselves, the architecture can start to crumble in your hands if you pay too close attention to it.

This leads me to another point. In no small part because Meditations was written for the author's own edification, rather than for a wider audience, it lacks the rigour of proper philosophy. These are maxims, assertions and little snippets of poetry, rather than a comprehensive theory that must show its working and its logic. (In Book 8.1, Aurelius even criticizes the 'casuistries' of logic, which is grossly unfair and, for his assertions, rather convenient.) Whilst the book could not be criticized for lack of self-awareness – Aurelius is clearly a conscientious observer – Stoicism doesn't really work if you simply play it through.

One book which I remember reading years ago which did 'play it through' with regards to Stoic philosophy is John Williams' 1965 novel Stoner. Williams was keen on the philosophy, but I found when reading the novel just how appalled I was at the harm his protagonist, Stoner, does to himself and others by following Stoicism. Stoner takes life as it comes to him and, as a consequence, he only really has utility as a doormat. His wife treats him with contempt, and like a Stoic he accepts it as part of the natural way of life and doesn't seek any remedy. His daughter grows up and goes off the rails, and similarly he accepts it as the way of things and doesn't help her. His colleagues at work scheme against him and as a result he never achieves anything in his career, whilst they thrive. Unintentionally, Williams only succeeds in showing how dangerous such a Stoic approach to life is, when you play it through. Stoner makes the world around him a hell. Not a fire-and-brimstone Hell, but a drab and grey hell in which nothing of spark or inventiveness ever really happens.

Now you might consider this unfair – and I am supposed to be reviewing Meditations, not Stoner – but it shows how just accepting things as they come can have outsized consequences. Even if Aurelius does not intend this (he is rather inconsistent on what you should hope to gain out of life), the sentiment can lead to passivity and nihilism. Many who want stoicism and find it hard to live up to will settle for the easier nihilism, and for indifference. Putting stock in the power of the mind to overcome is all well and good, but people will always use that same power of the mind to rationalize away their mistakes and their desires. Everyone can always find an excuse to switch off the alarm and enjoy another few minutes in bed.

But there is plenty of evidence in Meditations that Aurelius does indeed intend this passivity. "If thou wouldst know contentment, let thy deeds be few," Aurelius quotes with approval in Book 4.24. "A man must… wait quietly for his natural dissolution," he says in Book 5.10, as though life was just an inconvenience and we're all just waiting at the bus stop for death to come and trying not to cause too much of a fuss. This passivity – the opposite of carpe diem – only really makes sense if you believe that there is a god – a benevolent god – that has everything in hand. Voltaire skewered this idea that 'everything must be for the best' and that 'we live in the best of all possible worlds' brilliantly in his satirical Candide, but it does make for an even more fundamental hole in Stoic philosophy. If you think that things happen anyway without any input from you, then why even bother with Meditations? Why bother with a code for the individual, if the individual cannot or should not effect change? It seems a paradox, or at best that man is an inconvenience in some grand, automated spinning machine of no real purpose, and should just sit quietly until his death so that he does not inconvenience the gears.

The truth is that, as with those characters who took advantage of Williams' Stoner, you make the world a worse place if you just accept it. "If someone uses force to obstruct you… resign yourself without a pang," Aurelius writes in Book 6.50. That's about as wrong as a thing can be. There is value in the notion, continued on from that Book 6.50 quotation and also in Book 4.49, that you should not view hardship as a misfortune but rather as something that gives you an opportunity to exercise your virtue, but it is not enough. If you are insistent on the philosophy that you should swallow whatever is put in front of you, and this philosophy is followed by everyone (or even by enough), then over time the cumulative effects of this would create a world that is a much worse place in which to idly live out your days. Maybe if you are Emperor, you can not let such things bother you and you can just wait for death, but if you are one of the other billions of people who do not have the luxuries and security afforded an emperor, then reach for something, dammit, and either succeed or fail. Whilst you, the Stoic, are accepting things as they come, other people in the world are manipulating the world to their own ends. And this will impact on you negatively. If you accept whatever someone puts on your plate, pretty soon people will only be putting thin gruel on it, because they know you won't complain. You can revoke the pain that the world causes you at any moment (Book 8.47) but only if, like Stoner, you don't care about your children or if, like the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, your children are already taken care of by the standard of life they have been born into. (Not coincidentally, Book 5.30 says those who are created 'lower' must serve the 'higher', and elsewhere he remarks briefly how slavery is fine, with no apparent concern for the slaves' individuality and free will. Presumably they are to accept their plight stoically.)

You can see by now that Meditations and Stoic philosophy, despites its merits, does have plenty of inconsistencies. Many of the maxims are good in isolation – whether to accept as a rule for your own life or just to ponder in your thoughts for a while – but often contradict one another. To add just one more, it is worth pondering the above-quoted line from Book 6.50 – about resigning yourself to force used against you – in light of the fact that much of Meditations was written whilst Aurelius was on military campaign. The pacifism, it seems, is only skin-deep, or perhaps he was hoping his enemies would accept the tenets of non-resistance.

It might seem strange, in light of my (extensive) criticisms, to assert that I really enjoyed the book. The mind is a muscle, and reading Meditations critically is a great exercise. Teasing over its ideas in your mind – not least the arresting idea of stoic individualism in the face of adversity and life's suffering – is extremely beneficial. But I find, in a rather mischievous way, that enjoying and engaging with Meditations is in some ways a rejection of Stoicism. "Dispense with the education of the schools and have good masters at home instead," Book 1.4 tells us, and certainly it is better to have Meditations at home on your bookshelf – well-thumbed and digested – than it is to sit through a po-faced university course on intersectionality. But then Books 1.17, 2.2 and 2.3 in quick succession tells us to reject books and acquired learning. "Treat with respect the power you have to form an opinion," Book 3.9 rightly tells us, but then, if you follow Stoicism, of what use is the individual's opinion? What power does it have?

Trying to bring coherence – in a rigorous, philosophical sense – to the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is a frustrating task. It makes it hard to assess and to review, for it gives with one hand and takes away with the other. It introduces one maxim championing individualism, free will and independent thought, then introduces a series of other maxims which build the case for an unknowable god, a course of fate that you cannot change, and the need to have an indifferent approach to the world around you. Aurelius writes his Meditations presumably to guide his life and make sense of his world, and then writes, "As for things that are beyond my understanding, they are no concern of my understanding" (Book 7.2). We are going around in circles.

Aurelius believes in destiny and in indifference to the course of life, and this is the root of my unease. Surely the point of the human mind – if there is one – lies in its uniqueness, its consciousness of things beyond the self, its ability to challenge the world, to challenge its limits, and either fail or overcome? I could cite some of Aurelius' maxims that support this, but also plenty that refute it. It is all maddeningly inconsistent, but there is an energy and a joy in going mad as you engage with it. There are holes in it – some in the inconsistencies and some in the philosophy itself, even if followed right – but in some sense the holes don't matter and it is good to allow yourself to flow through the sieve like water. If you engage with Meditations, and engage with other books and other philosophies, and enjoy the richness that is presented to you and the sensation of pulling your mind in different directions, you will improve. It can be disappointing to discover that there is no magic wand in philosophy where, if you follow the tenets, you will live a good life. (Indeed, Meditations makes this point in Book 4.46 – another maddening inconsistency.) But there is joy in remarking upon "the complexity of the web" (Book 4.40) and dyeing your soul with the colour of such trains of thought (Book 5.16).

In some sense, this is a rejection of Stoicism: the world is there to be interacted with, and its treasures are not to be treated with a miserly hand. And if you do nourish your mind with these sort of thoughts, you find you are bringing yourself into a different, ascendant state of mind as you gain more and more knowledge and understanding. In this way, 'accepting the world' or 'turning the other cheek' is a natural outgrowth of your behaviour and your grace and your quest to make sense of things, rather than a set of maxims to be adopted. In one of his best lines, Marcus Aurelius says, "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." (Book 10.16). Maybe I should be doing that, instead of writing this review, but I do not think it means to discard Meditations unread. Instead, it means to both think on what a good man should be but also to act as one, in the real world and not just in your books. Stoic philosophy can form a part of this strategy, but I do not think it is the whole thing. And I think that Marcus Aurelius might even accept this; that he would be happy for people to look into his Meditations and find worth there, but also to look elsewhere for other things. And I've just realized that that would be a very Stoic thing for him to do.

"Dig within. There lies the well-spring of good: ever dig, and it will ever flow." (Book 7.59) show less

Not so much the emperor's autobiography but a mild and easily readable collection of ruminations on wisdom that quickly devolves into a fairly dense listing of aphorisms.

It's almost like Nietzsche said, "Hey, let's read Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, and model my own weird crap on his style." And voila! He did.

Honestly, other than the whole death of fire becomes air crap, I have nothing overly critical to say about any of his homey wisdom pieces, whether political (which read like Lao Tzu's show more Way) or personal.

HOWEVER.

This short book *feels* like it is a PR piece. Like, completely whitewashed old-man ramblings making his life seem as rosy as Venus's bottom. You know, a standard politician's autobiography. All offending bits have been excised. He's as pious as a pothead.

But is it a good read? Perhaps... if you like some light philosophy and to judge for yourself how to live a good life. It's not a bad read at all, rather smooth, even. Except when it just becomes a bunch of one-liners like a motivational speech. But ignore that bit. Or read it on the toilet. Whatever suits you. :)

Old classic challenge. Completed. show less

I've been on a Grecian/Roman kick for quite a while, and here we arrive at the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. First, let me get this right out of the way and just say (admit/confess) that the prime reason I chose to read this when I did was because Elizabeth Gilbert (yes, THAT one) mentioned this as one of the more influential books she's read...this galled me on a couple levels. One, Elizabeth Gilbert is to (good) writing what a D+ physics student is to Einstein. They both exist in the show more roughly the same continuum, but that's pretty much where the likenesses end. She is a hack par exellance and her popularity really worries me if this (THIS) is what mass reading consumption in this country has come down to.

However, digression aside, I went into this book thinking that if Gilbert can find influence here then there must be something , if not good, than at least worth seeing, if only to see how one of the most emptily pretentious fools on the literary scene came to be what she is. Let me just say I was blown away (in the best possible way) after I read this. And I had to ask myself, upon finishing, if Gilbert and I had even read the same book.

Without going into specifics too much, Aurelius was a thoughtful man, probably a genius but more importantly a thinker. He knew he was flawed and gave us these pearls to live by. I say thank you. And I also say (ask) what, if anything, did Liz Gilbert get from this? Ah well, life (as Frost said) goes on. show less