Meditations Themes

The collection of short sayings titled Meditations comes from the personal journals of Marcus Aurelius over the years (161–180 C.E.) that he was Roman Emperor. Meditations isn’t a formal philosophical treatise; it’s a series of brief mental exercises designed to help Marcus think and act well—in other words, to live a good life according to the Stoic philosophy he favored. (Stoicism taught that human beings should always try to act reasonably and in harmony with…

Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations are directed to himself alone—they’re short excerpts from his personal journals, and he designed them to help him think and act well. But just because Marcus wrote his Meditations for himself, that doesn’t mean he saw life as an individualistic endeavor. The Stoic belief that “we are what we think”—that one’s actions proceed from their thoughts—also impacts the way people relate to those around them. Plus, Stoic thought holds that being…

Judging by how many of his sayings focus on death, it’s clear that Marcus Aurelius made a special effort to train his mind to face this inevitability. It’s not surprising—mortality would have haunted any person living in the ancient Roman Empire, but it was especially pressing for Marcus, as he led armies into battle, survived plague outbreaks, and faced the dangers of high-profile public service. It’s also not surprising that Marcus’s basic Stoic principles—living reasonably…