Sublime

“When you’ve done well and another has benefited by it, why like a fool do you look for a third thing on top—credit for the good deed or a favor in return?” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.73

thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst be bound to give it back immediately; if thou holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according t

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

“Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS

the mind freed from passions is an impenetrable fortress—a person has no more secure place of refuge for all time. —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.48

“Understand at last that you have something in you more powerful and divine than what causes the bodily passions and pulls you like a mere puppet. What thoughts now occupy my mind? Is it not fear, suspicion, desire, or something like that?” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS

Marcus Aurelius presided over a period of relative political stability during the era now known as the golden age of Rome. He was respected as a just ruler and a skilled general who oversaw successful military campaigns against the Parthian Empire, the kingdom of Armenia, and assorted Germanic tribes. And thanks to his writings, he came to be rever