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Meditations was written in Koine Greek, entitled ?? ??? ??????, literally "things for myself,".It is a series of 12 books in which Marcus Aurelius records his personal notes on stoicism as a source of his own guidance and self-improvement. Marcus Aurelius encountered challenges, conspiracies, and obstacles during the day, and at night he put himself into deep reflection and wrote his personal notes before going to sleep.
It is unlikely that the emperor intended his writings to be published and the work has no official title, "Meditations" is one of several titles commonly attributed to the collection. These writings take the form of variable-sized quotations, from one sentence to long paragraphs.
The style of writing that permeates the text is simplified, direct and reflecting the stoic perspective of Marcus in the text itself. The Emperor, in the text, does not see himself as belonging to royalty, but as a man among other men, which allows the reader to relate to his wisdom.
A central theme of the meditations is the importance of analysing the assessment of oneself and others from a cosmic perspective. The acceptance of death and the debate about the existence or not of God permeates the whole book.
His stoic ideas include avoiding sensory indulgence, a skill that according to him will free man from the pains and pleasures of the material world. He states that the only way a man can be harmed by others is to allow his reaction to dominate him, all is opinion. Rationality and lucidity allow one to live in harmony with the universe. Marcus Aurelius often expresses an attitude of what we might call agnostic today, implying or even stating explicitly that it does not matter if one believes in divine providence (for the stoic, God is nature itself) or only in atoms and chaos (epicurean, atheistic outlook).
The recurring ideas and principles expressed by Marcus Aurelius are those that he believed important to himself as a man and as an emperor. It is probably the most read stoic classic of all.

The lessons, perceptions and perspectives contained in this remarkable work are as relevant today as they were two millennia ago.

This volume:
* Presents the timeless wisdom of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his stoic philosophy, with research into his life and times;
* Contains valuable insights on topics such as resilience, moderation and emotional control;
* Discusses how to live "according to nature" and respect solid ethical principles.

Excerpts:
"But death certainly, and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure, -- all these things equally happen to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore they are neither good nor evil." (II,11)
"Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, 'I have been harmed'. Take away the complaint, 'I have been harmed', and the harm is taken away." (IV,7)
"Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good." (IV,17)
"It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible." (VII, 71)
"If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him his error. But if thou art not able, blame thyself, or blame not even thyself." (X,4)
"No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such."(X,16)
"If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it. "(XII,17)

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  • Print Length: 318 Pages
  • File Size: 1,320 KB

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