Roman Stoic · 121–180 CE
Marcus Aurelius
A ruler writing to himself about how to be good.
Meaning is the daily practice of clear judgment, useful action, and acceptance of what cannot be changed.
Every thinker worth reading has one true sentence. This is a place to find Marcus Aurelius's.
On meaning
Meaning is the daily practice of clear judgment, useful action, and acceptance of what cannot be changed.
Why this thinker still matters
The specific circumstances of Marcus Aurelius's life are gone. The questions they wrestled with are not. Reading them now is less like consulting an authority and more like sitting across from someone who has already done a lot of the hard work of thinking.
Key insights
- ◆Read the primary sources when you can, not summaries of summaries.
- ◆Distinguish what the thinker actually wrote from what they are commonly quoted as saying.
- ◆Notice which of their answers resonate — that is data about you as much as about them.
Explore another perspective