Anyone who thinks Stoicism is about detachment hasn’t read “Meditations” with their soul switched on. He wasn’t preaching serenity from a sunlit porch in Athens, he was wading through plague, betrayal, and the administrative equivalent of a Hydra. And still, he chose clarity over chaos, ethics over ego.
What I find most moving isn’t the wisdom which is obvious, but the fact that he wrote it all down for himself. No performance, no audience, just the raw, unfiltered attempt of a man trying to stay decent while holding the world together with one hand and his sanity with the other.
His words are a manual for inner sovereignty, not emotional anesthesia. And let’s be honest, the quote “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” should be tattooed on every thinkpiece pundit and moral performance artist with a WiFi signal.
The older I get, the more I find myself returning to Marcus Aurelius for reminders, not for answers. The kind that slap and soothe you in the same breath.
Indeed. Prominent Romans, Greeks & others from antiquity are too often romanticised, & end up as gold-embossed leather bound books on a shelf or coffee table, admired for their aesthetics, but rarely read. I confess I’m guilty of that a little too much. My life is the worse for my laziness. And with ‘listening books’, time poverty is an inadequate excuse.
I find that a major motivator to read deeply in this modern world, is to realize that the wisdom of which we wantonly starve ourselves by not reading (or listening), affects us in ways we cannot know. The precepts of Marcus Aurelius, if embraced to the point of not merely understanding, but action, might help treated depression & substance abuse surprisingly more than we’d expect. And transform western politics. It’s worth trying.
Great summary of some of the most important points from a complex work. Also, FYI, there is a great book about Marcus Aurelius for kids called 'Marcus and Me'...would love to know about other stoicism books for kids for my daughter.
Marcus Aurelius, writing at a time of unrest. And yet he managed to extract such wonderful thoughts and advices. If only the upper-crust people followed them ...
Anyone who thinks Stoicism is about detachment hasn’t read “Meditations” with their soul switched on. He wasn’t preaching serenity from a sunlit porch in Athens, he was wading through plague, betrayal, and the administrative equivalent of a Hydra. And still, he chose clarity over chaos, ethics over ego.
What I find most moving isn’t the wisdom which is obvious, but the fact that he wrote it all down for himself. No performance, no audience, just the raw, unfiltered attempt of a man trying to stay decent while holding the world together with one hand and his sanity with the other.
His words are a manual for inner sovereignty, not emotional anesthesia. And let’s be honest, the quote “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” should be tattooed on every thinkpiece pundit and moral performance artist with a WiFi signal.
The older I get, the more I find myself returning to Marcus Aurelius for reminders, not for answers. The kind that slap and soothe you in the same breath.
Indeed. Prominent Romans, Greeks & others from antiquity are too often romanticised, & end up as gold-embossed leather bound books on a shelf or coffee table, admired for their aesthetics, but rarely read. I confess I’m guilty of that a little too much. My life is the worse for my laziness. And with ‘listening books’, time poverty is an inadequate excuse.
I find that a major motivator to read deeply in this modern world, is to realize that the wisdom of which we wantonly starve ourselves by not reading (or listening), affects us in ways we cannot know. The precepts of Marcus Aurelius, if embraced to the point of not merely understanding, but action, might help treated depression & substance abuse surprisingly more than we’d expect. And transform western politics. It’s worth trying.
This is an amazing article, extremely insightful.
Agreed
Great summary of some of the most important points from a complex work. Also, FYI, there is a great book about Marcus Aurelius for kids called 'Marcus and Me'...would love to know about other stoicism books for kids for my daughter.
Excellent article! Good items to remember as we go through life.
Far more difficult than reading it written 🙏
Marcus Aurelius, writing at a time of unrest. And yet he managed to extract such wonderful thoughts and advices. If only the upper-crust people followed them ...
"Silence in the face of wrongdoing is not neutrality, but is in fact a form of participation"....nothing could be more relevant in today's world.
Great article
A superb quinquevirate to guide our lives in the modern world.