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date: 21 March 2025

Marcus Aurelius ad 121–180
Roman emperor from ad 161 

  1. Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
    Meditations bk. 4, sect. 3
  2. Time is a violent torrent; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.
    Meditations bk. 4, sect. 43; see Heraclitus
  3. Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.
    Meditations bk. 5, sect. 18
  4. Shame on the soul, to falter on the road of life while the body still perseveres.
    Meditations bk. 6, sect. 29
  5. Every instant of time is a pinprick of eternity.
    Meditations bk. 6, sect. 36
  6. The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, for it requires that we should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.
    Meditations bk. 7, sect. 61
  7. To change your mind and to follow him who sets you right is to be nonetheless the free agent that you were before.
    Meditations bk. 8, sect. 16
  8. Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
    Meditations bk. 10, sect. 16