Happy Twosday 👋
Marcus Aurelius was the final of the Five Good Emperors of Rome. You may know him best as the old man Joaquin Phoenix kills in Gladiator. By philosophy majors, he’s more known as a stoic.
Stoicism is a philosophy built around rational thinking, virtue, and self-mastery. It’s best summed up by this quote from Marcus Aurelius:
“Objective judgement, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance — now, at this very moment — of all external events. That's all you need.”
Marcus Aurelius’ journal entries were discovered and turned into a book known as Meditations. Even though it was written in AD 171-175, its wisdom and insights are as timely as ever.
Here were my two favorite learnings — as told in quotes — from Meditations:
You can benefit from thinking of your death more often
Memento mori is a Latin phrase for, “remember that you must die.”
Marcus Aurelius often reminded himself of his death as a way to embrace the present with urgency and gratitude.
Here are some entries from Meditations:
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense.”
“Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.”
“Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to throw away. Death stands at your elbow. Be good for something while you live and it is in your power.”
“Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before this moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus.”
Your thoughts form you
Stoicism views every obstacle as an opportunity to sharpen your character, particularly your mind.
Here were my favorite quotes from Meditations on the power of your mind:
“Your mind will take on the character of your most frequent thoughts: souls are dyed by thoughts.”
“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”
“The corruption of the mind is much more a plague than any such contaminating change in the surrounding air we breathe. The latter infects animate creatures in their animate nature: the former infects human beings in their humanity.”
“Do not waste the remaining part of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking with reference to some aspect of the common good. Why deprive yourself of the time for some other task? I mean, thinking about what so-and-so is doing, and why, what he is saying or contemplating or plotting, and all that line of thought, makes you stray from the close watch on your own directing mind.
No, in the sequence of your thoughts you must avoid all that is casual or aimless, and most particularly anything prying or malicious. Train yourself to think only those thoughts such that in answer to the sudden question ‘What is in your mind now?’ you could say with immediate frankness whatever it is, this or that: and so your answer can give direct evidence that all your thoughts are straightforward and kindly, the thoughts of a social being who has no regard for the fancies of pleasure or wider indulgence, for rivalry, malice, suspicion, or anything else that one would blush to admit was in one’s mind.”
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— Luke
P.S. Some writing wisdom for the week:
💬 “In reading and writing, you cannot lay down rules until you have learnt to obey them. Much more so in life.” — Marcus Aurelius
✏️ One of my favorite writers dropped 50 nuggs of writing advice. So dang good:
