Tag: Marcus Aurelius

“Remember that to change course or accept correction leaves you just as free as you were. The action is your own, driven by your own impulse and judgement, indeed your own intelligence.”

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.16 (trans. Hammond)

(It’s helpful to remember that the emperor Marcus Aurelius, when he wrote his “Meditations,” was writing to himself as a form of (Stoic) philosophical exercise, and never intended these to published or read by others. In fact the title that comes with the manuscript is not “Meditations,” but “To Himself.”)

“Constantly test your mental impressions – each one individually, if you can: investigate the cause, identify the emotion, apply the analysis of logic.”

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.13 (trans. Hammond)

It’s helpful to remember that the emperor Marcus Aurelius, when he wrote his “Meditations,” was writing to himself as a form of (Stoic) philosophical exercise, and never intended these to published or read by others. In fact the title that comes with the manuscript is not “Meditations,” but “To Himself.”