Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.

Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed. Short, therefore, is man's life, and narrow is the corner of the earth wherein he dwells.

The gods gave me a father who ruled over me and rid me of any trace of arrogance and showed me that one can live in a palace without bodyguards, extravagant attire, chandeliers, statues, and other luxuries. He taught me that it is possible to live instead pretty much in the manner of a private citizen without losing any of the dignity and authority a ruler must possess to discharge his imperial duties effectively.

How very near us stand the two vast gulfs of time, the past and the future, in which all things disappear.

The gods sustain and guide all their works.

Your manners will depend very much upon the quality of what you frequently think on; for the soul is as it were tinged with the colour and complexion of thought.

I bless the gods for not letting my education in rhetoric, poetry, and other literary studies come easily to me, and thereby sparing me from an absorbing interest in these subjects.

You will find rest from vain fancies if you perform every act in life as though it were your last.

Look within. Within is the fountain of the good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.

It is a disgrace to let ignorance and vanity do more with us than prudence and principle.

Do you see what little is required of a man to live a well-tempered and god-fearing life? Obey these precepts, and the gods will ask nothing more.

All is ephemeral--fame and the famous as well.