“Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole; do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles which have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: 'What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?' You would be ashamed to confess it! And then remind yourself that it is not the future or what has passed that afflicts you, but always the present, and the power of this is much diminished if you take it in isolation and call your mind to task if it thinks that it cannot stand up to it when taken on its own.”

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About Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was a Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher who ruled from 161 to 180. He was a member of the Nerva Antonine dynasty and is remembered as the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors, as well as the last emperor of the Pax Romana. He served as Roman consul in 140, 145, and 161. His name is closely associated with Stoic thought and with the late years of the Roman Empire’s long period of relative peace and stability.

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Meditations

A private notebook, and the source of many Stoic quotes. Choose a modern translation.

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