The Wisdom Of The Emperor

Rather than bemoan the lack of wisdom displayed by certain present day leaders, perhaps we should go back a couple of thousand years.

Quotations from Marcus Aurelius 

(originally expressed in Greek)

“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly...”

“Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.”

*****

“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.”

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” 

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” 

*****

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

“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.” 

“Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.”

“Your life is what your thoughts make it.”

“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.” 

*****

“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.” 

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness.” 

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive--to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

*****

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”

“Observe the movements of the stars as if you were running their courses with them, and let your mind constantly dwell on the changes of the elements into each other. Such imaginings wash away the filth of life on the ground.”