Review of 'The meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I was having a hard time getting through this and wondered why, and finally decided it was because it is boring. The book collects the tweet-like notes of [a:Marcus Aurelius|17212|Marcus Aurelius|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225676437p2/17212.jpg], mostly self-chastisements or self-encouragements accompanied by reminders about the insignificance of human life and fame and the importance of meeting what fate throws at you with calm, steady resolve.
That's all well and good, but it gets repetitive, and often requires you to accept a pretty dogmatic stoicism and some dubious accompanying metaphysical assumptions in order for it to speak to you and your own situation.
The best thing about it is the attitude demonstrated by [a:Marcus Aurelius|17212|Marcus Aurelius|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225676437p2/17212.jpg] -- constantly examining himself and trying to remove all the obstacles he's tempted to put in his own path on his way to becoming a more noble person. While his specific advice might not be particularly inspiring, this attitude of …
I was having a hard time getting through this and wondered why, and finally decided it was because it is boring. The book collects the tweet-like notes of [a:Marcus Aurelius|17212|Marcus Aurelius|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225676437p2/17212.jpg], mostly self-chastisements or self-encouragements accompanied by reminders about the insignificance of human life and fame and the importance of meeting what fate throws at you with calm, steady resolve.
That's all well and good, but it gets repetitive, and often requires you to accept a pretty dogmatic stoicism and some dubious accompanying metaphysical assumptions in order for it to speak to you and your own situation.
The best thing about it is the attitude demonstrated by [a:Marcus Aurelius|17212|Marcus Aurelius|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225676437p2/17212.jpg] -- constantly examining himself and trying to remove all the obstacles he's tempted to put in his own path on his way to becoming a more noble person. While his specific advice might not be particularly inspiring, this attitude of relentless self-criticism and self-improvement should be.
Might I be a better person today if every evening I had paused to remember something in the day I could have done better and written myself up a nice aphorism summing up where I had gone astray or what I could have done differently?
