Meditations

It's difficult to review a book that has been read by many thousands or millions of people over the past two thousand years or so, including world leaders, philosophers and other academics, athletes, and everyday people who just want to live their best lives possible. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome (161-180), was never intended to be read by anyone other than its author. It is a collection of Aurelius' thoughts as they occurred to him, presumably over the course of his life. This book has no plot, no story arc, and no relatable characters, per se. Instead, it's a record of his daily journal that has been translated, interpreted, and transcribed repeatedly down through the ages. The individual entries have been compiled into 12 books, which are loosely arranged in chronological order; although there is some debate about that.

This book is remarkable for two important reasons. It provides a glimpse into the thoughts of a Roman emperor, and it defines his personal life philosophy. Aurelius was a student of Stoic philosophy, which he carried with him throughout his life. Meditations represents his version of Stoic philosophy as he applied it to his own life. It's this philosophy that informed his approach not just as a ruler, but also as a human being. The philosophical virtues that were important to Aurelius and other ancient Stoic philosophers transcend time and are just as applicable today as they were back then.

This is not a book to be read once and returned to the shelf to collect dust. It's meant to be read slowly and repeatedly; it's meant to be studied. I found myself often reflecting on individual passages while I searched for ways these ideas were relevant to me and my own circumstances. I've only read this book once, but it's clear to me that new revelations are likely to emerge with each subsequent reading. Very few books can maintain their relevance beyond a few decades, let alone centuries or millennia. But this one does. This is one book to which I will return often as I polish my own personal philosophy, as so many have done before me.

Reading the personal insights of one of the most powerful men in the world during his time, and understanding that the problems he faced are very much the same as the ones we face today is incredibly humbling. To be kind, compassionate, selfless, humble, grateful, sober, diligent and grounded.

To realise that the only factor we can control is our reaction to things. We can't control how other people will react, what they think, the weather, traffic and a myriad of other elements. We can only control what it in our mind.
"External things are not the problem. It's your assessment of them, which you can erase now"

That happiness, contentment and peace is internal. To stop prying into what other people are thinking about and seeking their validation, rather than our own. We are all running different races so it is foolish to compare. I love this quote :

"Ambition means tying your well being to what other people say or do. Self indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you. Sanity means tying it to your own thoughts"

To realise that our lives are brief and can end at any time. That we will be forgotten and that isn't depressing. Therefore it is even more important to be grateful and stay in the present moment. Not to let thoughts of the future, of what 'could' happen, what has happened, take over your mind. To be grateful for family, friends and your present moment.
"The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish acts".

Although not from this book, I love this quote :
"“If you are depressed you are living in the past.
If you are anxious you are living in the future.
If you are at peace you are living in the present.”


Most of our obstacles are internal and this clearly hasn't changed in the past 2000+ years. Marcus Aurelius struggled with what we do today, anger, fear, anxiety, thinking about what other people do or say. This is truly a one of a kind book and one that is full of aphorisms and applicable wisdom.