Meditations

Editorial review

Marcus Aurelius wrote these notes only for himself. They were never meant as a book — which is exactly why they read like one. No 21st century 'Stoic productivity' content has surpassed the original.

AI-generated summary

The private notebooks of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, written between 170 and 180 CE while on military campaign. They circle the same handful of themes — mortality, duty, the discipline of perception, the smallness of fame — with the relentlessness of a man trying to keep himself decent under pressure.

Key takeaways

• 1

  You do not need to have an opinion about everything.

• 2

  Most distress is the verdict you add to the event, not the event itself.

• 3

  Memento mori is a clarifying instrument, not a morbid one.

• 4

  Begin each day rehearsing the difficulty you are about to meet.