Throughout history, there have always been figures who stand out. They leave behind legacies that stand the test of time and still affect us today. One of these exemplary figures is Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor who ruled with knowledge and kindness when the Roman Empire was at its peak. We will uncover timeless wisdom as we dive in to these five inspiring quotes by Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius, in full Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was a Roman emperor from 161 to 180. He was born on April 26, 121 CE, in Rome, Italy, and died on March 17, 180. Marcus Aurelius was known for more than just his political skills. He was known for the deep intellectual thoughts he wrote in his private journals of Stoic philosophy, which are now famously known as “Meditations.”
These works about himself give a deep look into the mind of a man who struggled with the complexities of leadership, personal problems, and the search for virtue in a world that was always changing. Even though Marcus Aurelius wrote his words almost 2000 years ago, they continue to inspire and guide many people in their search for wisdom, inner peace, and a worthwhile life.
This is why I have chosen him as our candidate, for his timeless wisdom. In this two-part series, we’ll take you on a trip through time by looking at five carefully chosen quotes from Marcus Aurelius’. Each quote has a timeless lesson that can help us deal with the problems we face in our everyday lives. Let’s dive into this ancient philosopher-emperor’s deep knowledge. His words have the power to spark enlightenment in all of us.
Top Five Timeless Quotes by Marcus Aurelius
- “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing”
- “Confine yourself to the present”
- “The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like the one who wronged you.”
- “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
- “Our life is what our thoughts make it”
“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing”
What a powerful quote by Marcus Aurelius. We expect nothing less from the writer of “Meditations”. As I pondered upon this quote, I realized how simple but yet so complex that it is.
When we think of dancing, we often picture moves that are graceful, smooth, and in sync with each other. If someone is going to dance, they prepare themselves to do so. Then they simply do what they prepared for. But that’s not how life goes, as the artist K-Rino says “Real life will jack you up”. Real life is more like wrestling.
In wrestling, it’s not easy to be successful. It takes a lot of hard work and training, both physically and mentally. In the same way, life is rarely satisfying if you just go through the motions without any effort or involvement. To master the art of living, you have to take part, work hard, and be able to face problems head-on.
Wrestlers face challenges regularly. They face opponents who want to win just as much as they do, and they have to find ways to beat their opponents’ strengths and strategies. We have to deal with problems in life, just like everyone else. Personal problems, setbacks, and complicated relationships can all be obstacles that force us to dig deep, find our strength, and keep going.
Strategy and being able to change are also important in wrestling. Wrestlers use different strategies, moves, and methods to get an edge over their opponents. They must be flexible and ready to change their strategy based on what their opponents do. In the same way, there are times in life when we need to think strategically and be flexible. As we face challenges and changes, we need to look at our situation, make choices that are well thought out, and be willing to change our plans.
Just like wrestling fights can be hard to predict, life is also full of things that can go wrong. Unexpected things can mess up our plans, and we may have to deal with things we didn’t expect. We must accept that life is uncertain, being open to change, and having the strength to adapt when you need to. We have to be ready to make quick decisions and change our path as needed.
Personal growth and progress are at the heart of wrestling. Wrestlers are always trying to get better at their skills, their strength, and their techniques. They work hard at training themselves and learning from their situations. In the same way, life is a process of personal growth and development that goes on all the time. It means looking for ways to improve ourselves, being open to learning, and trying to become better versions of ourselves.
“Confine yourself to the present”
Another amazing quote by Marcus Aurelius that tells us to pay attention to the here and now instead of getting lost in thoughts about the past or the future.
It’s easy to get caught up in regrets from the past or get anxious about the future in our fast-paced and often chaotic world. When we think about the mistakes we’ve made in the past, it’s easy to want to dwell on them. Maybe that’s not your battle, you don’t worry about the past and you move on to things fairly quickly. Maybe you worry more about the future, because, if we are honest, most of us do worry about what the future may hold. How can you not? Everywhere you look there’s something about a bank crisis, a market crash, war, inflation, the debt ceiling, and many more things. How can you not worry?!
Well, Marcus Aurelius one of the Five Good Emperors reminds us that we must confine ourselves to the present moment. We must savor it, cherish it and appreciate it. If you study history, you will realize that Marcus Aurelius didn’t have an easy life. Here is a list of known challenges that he faced throughout his lifetime.
- His biological father died while he was still young.
- Antoninus Pius adopted him, and he later passed away.
- He had 13 children, but only a few outlived him.
- His brother died during their joint reign together.
- He had health issues
- War
- He went to war with the Parthians and won, but his soldiers brought back smallpox.
- He went to war with the Germanic tribes and won, but his most prominent general, Avidus Cassius, revolted against him.
These are the things that we know he had to deal with. Of course, he had his personal battles that weren’t recorded, but this list alone is terrifying. The same guy who went through all this pain, suffering, uncertainty, and betrayal is the same guy who is saying, “Confine yourself in the present”. Imagine being in his position: you just saw some of your children die. Would you not be anxious? Every day you would be wondering, who’s next? Which of my children will die today? Would you not? This is why it is important to confine ourselves to the present.
Dwelling on the past and worrying about the future will not change anything. I know the past may hurt and the future may be uncertain, but what can you do? You have the gift of the present; cherish it. At least you’re here; some people are nothing but a distant memory. So, live for today; the world does not stop because you’re depressed and anxious. You shouldn’t stop either, so keep pushing forward. I’ll say it one last time: CONFINE YOURSELF TO THE PRESENT.
“The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like the one who wronged you.”
If you’ve read the previous quotes, you would’ve noticed that we spoke about some of the challenges that Marcus Aurelius faced. One of them was betrayal by one of his most prominent generals, Avidus Cassius. He planned a revolt against Marcus in an effort to take his position. As I was researching on Marcus Aurelius for this blog, when I read about the revolt, I was very curious to see how Marcus would respond to that situation. He waited to see if Cassius would come back to his senses. When he didn’t, Marcus rallied up his troops to go capture him but unfortunately for Cassius, one of his centurions killed him. Marcus was willing to capture and not kill Cassius even after bringing Rome so close to a civil war. And of all the supporters of Cassius, he didn’t execute any of them.
What I find interesting is that these quotes aren’t just someone writing for fun, fame or to sound deep. These quotes by Marcus Aurelius are truly timeless gems that he wrote and lived through during his time. It really isn’t all talk when it comes to Marcus Aurelius. This is what makes these quotes gems, they’re precious because they’re the result of actual experience. For that reason, I implore you reader to lend an ear to Marcus Aurelius.
As the quotes says, the best revenge against an offender is to not be like them. The reality is that once you get caught up in a revenge cycle, there is no getting out. It is a constant back and forth, petty beef and even violence. This is what happens when there is a gang war. An infinite loop of an eye for eye between the parties involved, which results in never ending bloodshed. Although the average person is not really going to be faced with murdering someone as a means of revenge. Offense and betrayal will come. People say things or act in a certain way that are downright detestable.
Nonetheless, as the quotes say, the best revenge is not to be like them. We have to be the bigger person and forgive. The burden is heavier for you when you resent someone and that person doesn’t even dream of you. For this reason, we have to let go and be free. It may be difficult, but you have to get used to it. Everyone in your life will offend you in someway, sometimes they won’t even apologize. That’s the reality of life; therefore, we have to be ready.
Marcus Aurelius himself understood that perfectly. He understood that it was inevitable that someone would betray him, be jealous of him, be ungrateful, and be dishonest towards him. If even the emperor of Rome understood that even he, in all his power and glory is not exempt, what makes you think you’d be different? Now given that, we must always keep in mind that “the best revenge is to not be like your offender”. Let it all go and free yourself.
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Most of us have an idea as to what makes someone a good person. The problem is that it only remains an idea and never becomes a reality in our lives. A person’s real character is not shown by what they say, but by how they act and behave. Some people are all talk but no action. At the end of the day we all know the saying, “Actions speak louder than words”.
We tend to argue about what really makes a person good, but according to Marcus Aurelius, this is nothing but a waste of time. Constantly arguing about what makes a good person can be a distraction that wastes time and energy that could be better spent putting those ideals into practice. That’s the only way to make real progress, by taking action and forming good habits. By doing good things in our everyday lives, we can change ourselves and the world around us.
“Our life is what our thoughts make it”
In this adage, Marcus Aurelius shows how much our thoughts shape the quality of our lives as a whole. In my post about John Wooden, a quote that parallels with this one is “A man is what he thinks about all day long“. Both quotes teach us that our views, attitudes, and ways of thinking have a big effect on how we understand and get around in the world.
After some deep reflection, I realized that the quality of our thoughts determines the quality of our lives. Let’s take a simple example that I have experienced. If you’ve read my other blog posts, you would’ve probably realized that I love going to the beach and going for long walks. Recently, there was a shark attack in my region and someone got bit really badly. This incident has caused many to become so afraid of the waters. Every time I would ask some friends to go to the beach with me, they would always reply “Haven’t you heard of the shark attack? I don’t want to get bitten”. Those were the people who would normally want to go to the beach without hesitation. But their perception had changed because of the news of the shark attack.
What’s interesting is that, these past few days have been extremely hot. So, we needed to go to the beach, go for swim, catch some sea breeze to cool down. Unfortunately, the beach became so scary to them because their perception had shifted. In their heads, the beach was no longer a fun place to chill and hang out with friends, it was a place you go if you wanted to get bitten by sharks. I know that this sounds totally ridiculous but the mind is powerful, and our thoughts make up who we are, and decide what we do or don’t do.
It’s a simple and almost harmless example of how our perception aka our thoughts, affect our lives. This happens all the time, in all aspects of our lives. We may get a difficult task and instead of trying, we just jump straight to the conclusion that we can’t or it’s impossible. That is what you think, until someone else does it. We sort of set limitations on ourselves, and really and truly, it’s all in the mind, it’s a matter of perception.
It’s like the “FOUR MINUTE BARRIER”. In 1954, Roger Bannister, an amateur runner, ran a mile in 3 minutes and 59 seconds. Before he made such an accomplishment, “experts” of the time thought that running a mile in 4 minutes was impossible. But, an amateur proved them wrong, Bannister was the first to do it. After he showed the world that the four minute barrier could be broken, people started breaking that barrier. Many others would follow and set their own records.
The moral of this story was that because of people’s limiting beliefs which of course was caused by the “experts”, no one thought it was possible until someone did it. Imagine if no one believed it was impossible in the first place, the record would have probably been broken much sooner. All these examples indicate one thing, THE MIND IS POWERFUL. We see in these examples what a simple paradigm shift can do for us human beings. Achieving anything, whether it is happiness or success, the first step should be changing your mindset. Acknowledging that it is actually possible to achieve what you want is the first step. It all starts in the mind. What we think is what make us who we are.
So I implore you reader, to change your thoughts. That is where your mindset, your belief system, your attitude, and your perspective are housed. Whatever it is that you want to achieve or make of your life, IT IS POSSIBLE. That is the very first step you can actually take right now. Your goal is attainable, stop with all the limiting beliefs, with a little hard work you can break through those barriers that you once thought were impossible.
Conclusion
This is the longest blog that I have ever written. This is the real power of ancient timeless wisdom. The fact that I can extract up to 3000 words from just five of these timeless quotes is just mind boggling. Marcus Aurelius was certainly an exceptional human being. So to conclude, we shall review the timeless wisdom that we discussed throughout this blog.
First, we discussed how life is more like wrestling than dancing. The complexity of life is similar to wrestling. Dancing is more planned, structured and predictable, while wrestling requires hard work, training, and adaptability due to its unpredictable nature. Wrestling involves facing challenges and adapting to your opponents. We learned that life is unpredictable, and we must be open to change and adapt to unexpected situations.
Then we discussed about confining ourselves to the present moment. This quote encourages us to focus on the present and avoid dwelling on the past or future. We must cherish the present and appreciate the challenges we face. Aurelius faced numerous challenges throughout his life, things that are terrifying but yet he made this quote. Therefore, we can use him as an example. By focusing on the present, we can live for today and avoid depression and anxiety.
Thirdly, we discussed how we shouldn’t be like our offender. Marcus Aurelius himself as an emperor had to face betrayal by his general Cassius. Despite his efforts to capture Cassius alive, he was killed by one of his centurions. Marcus was still willing to forgive him but he didn’t get a chance to. These timeless quotes are a testament to his experiences and the importance of forgiveness and not being like your offender. We learned how essential it is to let go of the burden of resentment and be prepared for life’s inevitable offenses.
Fourthly, we discussed not arguing and focus more on doing. People often have ideas about what makes a good person, but it’s not always reality. Actions speak louder than words, and constant debate is wasteful. Real progress comes from taking action and forming good habits.
Lastly, we learned that our life is what our thoughts make it. Marcus Aurelius highlights the impact of our thoughts on our lives. Our perceptions and beliefs shape our actions and decisions. The mind is powerful, with a simple paradigm shift, we can change our mindset, beliefs, and attitudes. You achieve that shift by acknowledging that your goal isn’t impossible, which is the first step to achieving any goal. Along with that comes hard work and consistency, and eventually you can achieve whatever you desire.
If you’ve made it this far, you are surely a dedicated person. We have discussed so much, but it means nothing if you don’t implement these bits of timeless wisdom into your life. So, I implore you, to put at least one thing into practice. That’s how real change is made.
Thank you for your time, I will catch you all on the next one.
Leave a Reply