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The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
BOOK ONE
From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government
of my temper.
From the reputation and remembrance of my father, modesty and a manly
character.
From my mother, piety and beneficence, and abstinence, not only from
evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in
my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich.
From my great-grandfather, not to have frequented public schools,
and to have had good teachers at home, and to know that on such things
a man should spend liberally.
From my governor, to be neither of the green nor of the blue party
at the games in the Circus, nor a partizan either of the Parmularius
or the Scutarius at the gladiators' fights; from him too I learned
endurance of labour, and to want little, and to work with my own hands,
and not to meddle with other people's affairs, and not to be ready
to listen to slander.
From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not
to give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about
incantations and the driving away of daemons and such things; and
not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give myself up passionately
to such things; and to endure freedom of speech; and to have become
intimate with philosophy; and to have been a hearer, first of Bacchius,
then of Tandasis and Marcianus; and to have written dialogues in my
youth; and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever else
of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline.
From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required
improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray
to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor
to delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off
as a man who practises much discipline, or does benevolent acts in
order to make a display; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry,
and fine writing; and not to walk about in the house in my outdoor
dress, nor to do other things of the kind; and to write my letters
with simplicity, like the letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa
to my mother; and with respect to those who have offended me by words,
or done me wrong, to be easily disposed to be pacified and reconciled,
as soon as they have shown a readiness to be reconciled; and to read
carefully, and not to be satisfied with a superficial understanding
of a book; nor hastily to give my assent to those who talk overmuch;
and I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses
of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection.
From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness
of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except
to reason; and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion
of the loss of a child, and in long illness; and to see clearly in
a living example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding,
and not peevish in giving his instruction; and to have had before
my eyes a man who clearly considered his experience and his skill
in expounding philosophical principles as the smallest of his merits;
and from him I learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed
favours, without being either humbled by them or letting them pass
unnoticed.
From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family
governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably
to nature; and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully
after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons,
and those who form opinions without consideration: he had the power
of readily accommodating himself to all, so that intercourse with
him was more agreeable than any flattery; and at the same time he
was most highly venerated by those who associated with him: and he
had the faculty both of discovering and ordering, in an intelligent
and methodical way, the principles necessary for life; and he never
showed anger or any other passion, but was entirely free from passion,
and also most affectionate; and he could express approbation without
noisy display, and he possessed much knowledge without ostentation.
From Alexander the grammarian, to refrain from fault-finding, and
not in a reproachful way to chide those who uttered any barbarous
or solecistic or strange-sounding expression; but dexterously to introduce
the very expression which ought to have been used, and in the way
of answer or giving confirmation, or joining in an inquiry about the
thing itself, not about the word, or by some other fit suggestion.
From Fronto I learned to observe what envy, and duplicity, and hypocrisy
are in a tyrant, and that generally those among us who are called
Patricians are rather deficient in paternal affection.
From Alexander the Platonic, not frequently nor without necessity
to say to any one, or to write in a letter, that I have no leisure;
nor continually to excuse the neglect of duties required by our relation
to those with whom we live, by alleging urgent occupations.
From Catulus, not to be indifferent when a friend finds fault, even
if he should find fault without reason, but to try to restore him
to his usual disposition; and to be ready to speak well of teachers,
as it is reported of Domitius and Athenodotus; and to love my children
truly.
From my brother Severus, to love my kin, and to love truth, and to
love justice; and through him I learned to know Thrasea, Helvidius,
Cato, Dion, Brutus; and from him I received the idea of a polity in
which there is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard
to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly
government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed;
I learned from him also consistency and undeviating steadiness in
my regard for philosophy; and a disposition to do good, and to give
to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and to believe that
I am loved by my friends; and in him I observed no concealment of
his opinions with respect to those whom he condemned, and that his
friends had no need to conjecture what he wished or did not wish,
but it was quite plain.
From Maximus I learned self-government, and not to be led aside by
anything; and cheerfulness in all circumstances, as well as in illness;
and a just admixture in the moral character of sweetness and dignity,
and to do what was set before me without complaining. I observed that
everybody believed that he thought as he spoke, and that in all that
he did he never had any bad intention; and he never showed amazement
and surprise, and was never in a hurry, and never put off doing a
thing, nor was perplexed nor dejected, nor did he ever laugh to disguise
his vexation, nor, on the other hand, was he ever passionate or suspicious.
He was accustomed to do acts of beneficence, and was ready to forgive,
and was free from all falsehood; and he presented the appearance of
a man who could not be diverted from right rather than of a man who
had been improved. I observed, too, that no man could ever think that
he was despised by Maximus, or ever venture to think himself a better
man. He had also the art of being humorous in an agreeable way.
In my father I observed mildness of temper, and unchangeable resolution
in the things which he had determined after due deliberation; and
no vainglory in those things which men call honours; and a love of
labour and perseverance; and a readiness to listen to those who had
anything to propose for the common weal; and undeviating firmness
in giving to every man according to his deserts; and a knowledge derived
from experience of the occasions for vigorous action and for remission.
And I observed that he had overcome all passion for boys; and he considered
himself no more than any other citizen; and he released his friends
from all obligation to sup with him or to attend him of necessity
when he went abroad, and those who had failed to accompany him, by
reason of any urgent circumstances, always found him the same. I observed
too his habit of careful inquiry in all matters of deliberation, and
his persistency, and that he never stopped his investigation through
being satisfied with appearances which first present themselves; and
that his disposition was to keep his friends, and not to be soon tired
of them, nor yet to be extravagant in his affection; and to be satisfied
on all occasions, and cheerful; and to foresee things a long way off,
and to provide for the smallest without display; and to check immediately
popular applause and all flattery; and to be ever watchful over the
things which were necessary for the administration of the empire,
and to be a good manager of the expenditure, and patiently to endure
the blame which he got for such conduct; and he was neither superstitious
with respect to the gods, nor did he court men by gifts or by trying
to please them, or by flattering the populace; but he showed sobriety
in all things and firmness, and never any mean thoughts or action,
nor love of novelty. And the things which conduce in any way to the
commodity of life, and of which fortune gives an abundant supply,
he used without arrogance and without excusing himself; so that when
he had them, he enjoyed them without affectation, and when he had
them not, he did not want them. No one could ever say of him that
he was either a sophist or a home-bred flippant slave or a pedant;
but every one acknowledged him to be a man ripe, perfect, above flattery,
able to manage his own and other men's affairs. Besides this, he honoured
those who were true philosophers, and he did not reproach those who
pretended to be philosophers, nor yet was he easily led by them. He
was also easy in conversation, and he made himself agreeable without
any offensive affectation. He took a reasonable care of his body's
health, not as one who was greatly attached to life, nor out of regard
to personal appearance, nor yet in a careless way, but so that, through
his own attention, he very seldom stood in need of the physician's
art or of medicine or external applications. He was most ready to
give way without envy to those who possessed any particular faculty,
such as that of eloquence or knowledge of the law or of morals, or
of anything else; and he gave them his help, that each might enjoy
reputation according to his deserts; and he always acted conformably
to the institutions of his country, without showing any affectation
of doing so. Further, he was not fond of change nor unsteady, but
he loved to stay in the same places, and to employ himself about the
same things; and after his paroxysms of headache he came immediately
fresh and vigorous to his usual occupations. His secrets were not
but very few and very rare, and these only about public matters; and
he showed prudence and economy in the exhibition of the public spectacles
and the construction of public buildings, his donations to the people,
and in such things, for he was a man who looked to what ought to be
done, not to the reputation which is got by a man's acts. He did not
take the bath at unseasonable hours; he was not fond of building houses,
nor curious about what he ate, nor about the texture and colour of
his clothes, nor about the beauty of his slaves. His dress came from
Lorium, his villa on the coast, and from Lanuvium generally. We know
how he behaved to the toll-collector at Tusculum who asked his pardon;
and such was all his behaviour. There was in him nothing harsh, nor
implacable, nor violent, nor, as one may say, anything carried to
the sweating point; but he examined all things severally, as if he
had abundance of time, and without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously
and consistently. And that might be applied to him which is recorded
of Socrates, that he was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy,
those things which many are too weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy
without excess. But to be strong enough both to bear the one and to
be sober in the other is the mark of a man who has a perfect and invincible
soul, such as he showed in the illness of Maximus.
To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents,
a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends,
nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not
hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a disposition
which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do something
of this kind; but, through their favour, there never was such a concurrence
of circumstances as put me to the trial. Further, I am thankful to
the gods that I was not longer brought up with my grandfather's concubine,
and that I preserved the flower of my youth, and that I did not make
proof of my virility before the proper season, but even deferred the
time; that I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to
take away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that
it is possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either
guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like
show; but that it is in such a man's power to bring himself very near
to the fashion of a private person, without being for this reason
either meaner in thought, or more remiss in action, with respect to
the things which must be done for the public interest in a manner
that befits a ruler. I thank the gods for giving me such a brother,
who was able by his moral character to rouse me to vigilance over
myself, and who, at the same time, pleased me by his respect and affection;
that my children have not been stupid nor deformed in body; that I
did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other studies,
in which I should perhaps have been completely engaged, if I had seen
