Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)

Product Information

După cum ne formăm reprezentări despre felurile de mîncare, gîndind că acesta este cadavrul unui peşte, acesta – al unei păsări sau al unui porc, şi, de asemenea, că vinul de Falern este sucul stors din struguri şi că toga pretextă e lînă de oaie impregnată cu sînge de scoică…, tot aşa trebuie să procedăm toată viaţa şi, cînd ne reprezentăm lucrurile ca prea demne de încredere, trebuie să le dezgolim, să le surprindem mica lor valoare şi să înlăturăm pretinsa credibilitate datorită căreia erau considerate de valoare. Periculoasă amăgire este trufia şi, cînd socoteşti mai degrabă că te ocupi de lucruri importante, atunci mai ales eşti victima iluziei” (VI: 13).

whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together: your own existence and the things that happen to you. ..”

Observațiile împăratului, scrise în limba greacă (și nu în latină), între anii 170 și 180, au fost tipărite abia în 1558, după un manuscris azi pierdut. The time during which you are alive is very very brief compared to the time during which you did not exist and will not exist.

I don’t normally read self help books. Often they seem full of cliches left over from the Victorian era. And in this book, which may have been modeled on the writings of Alain De Botton, Marcus mixes in a lot of philosophy and this just isn’t to everyone’s taste. All that exists will soon change. Either it will be turned into vapour, if all matter is a unity, or it will be scattered in atoms. This book contains the rumination’s of an emperor, a philosopher, and, most pertinent to our collective struggles, a fellow mortal, aware of their paltry chronological endowment. Trying to live well and love fully. Seeking to define goodness and hone the pursuit of it as earnestly as possible. Espousing the virtues of self reliance, of facing hardship with equanimity, of treating others with respect and compassion. Stressing the importance of habituating your thoughts in ways that are productive, rather than adopting fatalistic narratives. It’s a panacea against carping and catastrophizing. A set of conceptual triangulations to steady you in times when you feel unmoored. Succor in menacing shadow of life’s impermanence. But generalizations will not approach the richness and wisdom nuggets a reader will find in Marcus's actual words. Thus I'll conclude with my personal observations coupled with quotes from Book One, wherein Marcus begins by expressing heartfelt thanks to his family and teachers for the many fine lessons he learned as a youth. Here are four of my favorites: Another great influence in my life; this was the personal philosophical diary of the last "good emperor" of the Roman Empire. In this work Marcus Aurelius draws a picture Stoicism as a philosophy that I call "Buddhism with balls". It is a harsh self discipline that trains its practitioners to be champions (of a sort). Champions of what? Mastery of the self.How refreshing if more authors of self help books would confront squarely the central issue of our own mortality and our negative emotions of anger or frustration instead of forever hiding from these topics. Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 CE) was the last in line of the five good Emperors (Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus). Me: “You’re right. What would my personal hero (Dr. Hannibal Lecter) do at a time like this? If he can bite the faces off rude corrections officers without his pulse rising above normal, surely I can manage this trivial ordeal.” Fun Fact 1: funny thing is, they were all adopted by their predecessor. The next Emperor after Marcus was Commodus, he was a son of Marcus and was a complete Muppet, nasty too – hence the start of a period of volatility after his death. An argument against hereditary ascension to a throne to be sure. This is not the only instance of hereditary ascension being a complete disaster in the Roman Empire.

I love this quote and I love the wisdom that runs through this book. It’s such a simple idea and it is also a very true one. Make the most of everything and everyone, of every situation and chance that life throws your way because when they have passed, we may not get them again. because most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary…” All the great people of the past (caesars, writers, sculptors) perished, as did ordinary people. The end is the same for everyone. Therefore, in a wider sense, it does not matter whether or not you have lived a long and prosperous life. I think the author expands on this topic because he wants to provide himself or his invisible reader with some sort of consolation. Life is not always fair. Sh*t happens even to virtuous people. We must accept things that we are not able to change and improve those that can be rectified. Whatever happens, we can choose how to respond to it. These reflections represent one of the tenets of Stoicism.

Marcus Aurelius must have been a prolific reader. He sure was a prolific note-taker, for these meditations are surely his study-notes(?- after all he was a 'philosopher' from age 12). I don't know of the publishing system at the time but where are the detailed footnotes and references? Marcus Aurelius is quite a wise man or at least he read enough wise men. He sure nailed it as far as boring a reader is concerned. No better way to establish your book's wisdom quotient. But despite such an expensive education our political masters don't have half the grasp on the classics that Marcus has, which is remarkable considering he was home-schooled. I wish Marcus would consider a career in politics just to show up our current representatives for the intellectual pygmies that they really are. altă parte, împăratul scrie: „Înlătură setea de cărți, ca să nu mori cîrtind, ci dimpotrivă, cu adevărat mulţumit, senin şi recunoscător din toată inima zeilor!” (II: 3, p.85). Adaugă imediat: „Lasă deoparte cărţile! Nu te mai chinui! Nu îţi este dat...”. Nimic mai enigmatic decît aceste enunțuri lapidare. Moartea se cuvine întîmpinată în liniște. The Roman philosophers are not as well known or as highly regarded as Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, or Zeno the Stoic - and for a simple reason: the Roman thinkers were not primarily interested in abstract theory; rather, they were concerned with behavior, that is, understanding how to live in the everyday world and putting their understanding into practice,the goal being to live the life of an authentic philosopher, to be a person of high character and integrity and virtue, to develop inner strength and a quiet mind and value such strength and quietude above all else. You need to avoid certain things in your train of thought: everything random, everything irrelevant. And certainly everything self-important or malicious."