6 days ago (Medium.com)
Meditations is one of the most influential philosophical works to ever exist.
And what’s crazy is, the author had zero intentions of publishing it.
To be honest, I’m glad it was published.
Could you imagine where we’d be without the wisdom of this incredible man?
We’d certainly be a lot worse off.
To give a brief backstory, Marcus Aurelius was away on a campaign between 170 AD and 180 AD.
That’s right, this dude didn’t only rule the most powerful empire in the world, he also fought shoulder to shoulder with his fellow soldiers.
I believe the kids these days call this “built different”.
Anyway, whilst he was at war, he wrote a journal with the sole intention of improving himself.
The insights in this book are from a Roman Emperor during the peak of his powers.
At the time, he was the most powerful man on the planet with everything he could have ever wanted.
But instead of indulging in pleasures of the body and sinking into degeneracy, he decided to dive deeper into his mind and maximise his human potential.
Marcus Aurelius is a far cry from all of our modern leaders.
If he were to see the state of Western leaders today, he’d turn in his grave.
Nevertheless, it’s a blessing to have his lessons.
With that out of the way, let’s dive into 8 of his thought-provoking quotes.
- “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.”
This quote is a powerful reminder.
Things will often go wrong in life.
In many cases, these things will be out of your control.
Dwelling on the things out of your control is not intelligent.
You need to let it all go and focus on what you can control.
Understanding this fact about the world will allow you to find inner strength.
This quote also champions the idea of personal responsibility.
Instead of blaming others for their actions, stop.
You cannot control anyone else’s actions other than your own.
Therefore, it’s your duty to take responsibility for the mess.
Without you’re involvement, the bad thing never would have happened.
Fully internalising this mindset will allow you to take full control over your life.
2. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
Happy wife, happy life?
No.
Happy mind, happy life.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with having a happy wife.
In fact, it’s a beautiful thing.
But you can’t rely on external things to provide you with happiness.
Instead, you must understand that happiness comes from within you.
Money won’t make you happy.
Attracting a beautiful woman won’t make you happy.
And sadly, even achieving your goals won’t necessarily make you happy.
For you to be happy, you need to have a healthy mind.
How do you have a healthy mind?
By having healthy thoughts.
Since your reality is created by the thoughts that you have, it makes sense to make them as positive as possible.
Because before any external achievements, it’s essential to be happy within yourself.
Wise words from the warrior emperor.
3. “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
This saying is highly controversial.
It highlights the fact that we can never really know what’s true.
At least not entirely.
When you hear something being uttered by someone, it is not the truth.
It is merely their opinion of what is true.
Whether there is such a thing as objective truth or not, we as humans will never experience it.
We will only ever experience perceptions, because everything that comes out of someone’s mouth is just a perspective.
I hope this makes sense to you.
It makes sense to me, but I may not be doing a great job at explaining it.
Either way, this observation is killer.
And in my opinion, it’s even more relevant today than when Marcus Aurelius was alive.
Keep this quote in mind the next time you see someone pontificating about a subject.
Whether it be political, religious or cultural.
Always remember that what they’re preaching isn’t the truth.
It’s just their perspective.
4. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
There’s a lot of talk online about being a high value man, yet not a lot of meaningful actions to become one.
Guys these days seem to think watching entertainment is enough to make them high value.
Pathetic.
Either way, Emperor Aurelius is right.
Instead of debating over what makes a man good, spend more time trying to become one.
At the end of the day, words contain little value.
Actions will speak far louder than anyone screaming about how high value they are.
Also, we don’t need to overcomplicate something so simple.
A good man is someone who does good things.
A simple credo which I subscribe to goes as follows:
Be yourself.
Be good to yourself.
And be good to good people.
This 3 sentence bible was coined by a contemporary man of power named Marquett Davon Burton.
I believe he and Marcus Aurelius share many overlapping views on life.
If you want to be a good man, you can’t go wrong with that message.
5. “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …”
This quote speaks to the importance of gratitude.
When you lack gratitude, you become entitled and arrogant.
Instead of being thankful for the gift you’ve been given (life), you desire more and more.
More money.
More attention.
More sex.
More food.
More happiness.
Without gratitude, this quench for more will never be filled.
With gratitude, you can appreciate what you have and be thankful for the gift you’ve been given.
Nothing in life is promised.
I have a friend whose 18 year old nephew just died in a horrific motorbike accident.
Imagine having the audacity to complain about your living conditions when you’re fortunate enough to be alive and well.
Especially when you’re fortunate enough to have a roof over your head, access to food and a loving family.
It makes me sick to see such little awareness.
When you wake up and appreciate how fortunate you are to be alive, your perspective on life changes.
Instead of having to make a boatload of money, you get to make a boatload of money.
Instead of having to stick to a rigorous content creation schedule, you get to spend all day writing.
Practicing daily gratitude makes you aware that your life is a gift.
And once you realise this, you can finally start to live it.
Which neatly leads me to…
6. “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
How many people are living with a crippling fear of death?
The answer is — quite a lot.
Think of all the people who are obnoxiously health conscious.
Think of all the people who live each day, worrying about when they’ll die.
Are these people really living?
Are they enjoying the fruits that life has to offer?
Of course not.
People like this aren’t only afraid of death.
They’re also afraid of everything in life which involves risk.
They’re terrified of exercise, lest a dumbbell falls on their head and cripples them.
They’re petrified of approaching a beautiful woman they deem to be perfect.
And they’re frightened of giving up their life of comfortable security in exchange for pursuing their dreams of freedom and fulfilment.
These people aren’t living.
They’re dying.
They’re just doing it really slowly.
Instead, these people need to reverse their fear.
These people need to think long and hard about what will happen if they keep doing the same things.
They keep passing on the things that bring them the most joy.
They keep walking past potential romantic partners and remain lonely.
They keep tolerating their boring job and accept that they’ll never become a boss.
When this shift in perspective occurs, a different fear sets in.
A fear of regret.
A fear of wasting the gift they’ve been given.
And a fear which will only become worse, the longer they wait.
This is the key to start living.
Stop fearing death.
Start fearing eternal regret.
7. “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
This idea has been parroted by many self-help gurus in the modern age.
Figures such as James Allen, Jim Rohn and Brian Tracey.
I’m not disparaging these figures.
I’m merely pointing out that their teachings stem from the great Marcus Aurelius.
Who would deny this statement?
I see people who experience the exact same things yet come up with totally different conclusions.
One sees something terrible while the other sees a great lesson and an opportunity.
Once you understand that your thoughts dictate your life, you are free to change the way you think.
If you never understood this lesson to be true, you would remain a slave to your thoughts forever.
I learnt this lesson firsthand when I was 18.
At the time, I was a miserable person.
I was addicted to cannabis.
Addicted to pornography.
And also a political zealot.
My thoughts were nothing but garbage and this ended up negatively affecting my life.
Now, I do not have the same vices.
I don’t smoke weed.
I don’t jerk myself silly.
And I’m not a hateful leftist.
Instead, I see that my life is in my hands and that my thoughts have the power to shape my life.
Knowing that this is true, it makes sense to think positive thoughts.
Every bad thing that happens to me is a lesson.
Every unideal situation has a silver lining.
In essence, I am in control of my perspective.
I’m deeply thankful to Marcus Aurelius for sharing this lesson with the world.
And I’m also thankful for the modern synthesisers who keep his ideas alive through their works.
8. “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
It’s almost eerie how true this statement is.
The man wrote this over 2000 years ago and it’s more relevant than ever.
It just goes to show that humanity doesn’t move in a straight line and people are yet to learn from civilizational mistakes.
What Marcus Aurelius is saying is simple, never trutst the majority.
If you’re on the side of the masses, you’re doing something wrong.
As a ruler of ancient Rome, he knew this better than anyone.
He keenly observed the behaviours of the masses and saw what they cared about.
Gladiator bouts.
Spectacles.
Mindless entertainment.
Bread and circuses.
All things which the masses today cherish beyond belief.
For you to live a life of meaning, you must move away from what the majority do.
Because if you look around, it’s clear that they’re not living a life worth aspiring for.
This was the same in Ancient Rome as it is today in Western Civilization.
For you to find true success in the world, you must detach yourself from the insane and march against the grain.
Thank you for reading this article.
I sure hope you’ve been able to gain something from it.
If you did, I’d appreciate it if you shared it with your friends.
They need this great man’s wisdom.
All the best,
Godfrey.
Written by Godfrey The Great
Building infinite leverage one post at a time. Follow me for fascinating articles on: culture, marketing, life and anything that interests me. @godfrey_thegr8