MARCUS AURELIUS

When we study the history of the Roman Empire, we discover that there were many emperors .  However, most of the world knows only a few. The most familiar are Julius Caesar and Nero.

Today, I'm going to talk about one of them who was the most brilliant, the most intelligent and the wisest. His name is Marcus Aurelius.  He left us a famous book: MÉDITATIONS.
I bought it and discovered so many quotations that I collected them and added them to my list of WISE WORDS.

,

Here, I'd like to share them with my readers to introduce them to this character. But first, here's a summary:

Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) was not only a wise ruler of the Roman Empire - the last of the "five good emperors" of the Pax Romana - he was also a Stoic philosopher who advocated the enduring value of virtue, logic and willpower. He believed that people with a strong will, who cultivated inner peace and positive emotions, could find happiness whatever their circumstances, and didn't need fortune, fame or material possessions to be satisfied with their lives.

If we can seek joy in the little things and feel gratitude for what we have, happiness is always within our grasp. Reading these words, we appreciate him a little more. He said: "Obstacles to action move action forward". And from what we know, he really did see each of these obstacles as an opportunity to practice a virtue: patience, courage, humility, resourcefulness, reason, justice and creativity.
In other words, accept whatever comes your way. He also said: "It doesn't take much to be happy".

In the Oscar-nominated 2023 film The Holdovers, history professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) offers copies of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations to several people, declaring, "For me, it's like the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita all rolled into one." Unlike these religious texts, however, the Meditations were first and foremost the personal diary of a Roman emperor and philosopher.

Speaking of philosophy, he taught us that "The work of philosophy is simple and modest". He even added: "Don't seduce me with pompous pride". He was a student of Epitectus, the Stoic, and Socrates. Another philosopher who decidedly influenced him was Severus, who had the reputation of belonging to the school of Aristotle. Another piece of advice;" Don't forget that philosophy only wants what your nature wants. And what could be more pleasurable than to respond to the needs of one's own nature?

When asked: "What harm have you suffered? He replies, "You will find that none of those who excite your anger have done anything to affect your mind for the worse: and it is only in your mind that harm or injury can be done to you - they have no other existence.

When asked what eternity is, he replied: "It's a river of all events, a violent current. As soon as one thing has happened, it's gone; another is coming, and it too will pass. As for our actions, they "may be hindered ... but there can be no hindrance to our intentions or dispositions. For we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts the obstacle to our action to its own ends".

He even spoke of happiness, saying that: "The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts - very little is needed to lead a happy life."
Who could say it better?
...
In conclusion, I'll name the three books I read to get so much information:
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
The World . A Family History of Humanity by Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

And I'd like someone to ask me one day: "What's your profession?" To which I would reply philosophically: "To be a good man".