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35 Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Life, Love, And Death
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By Sean Gagne
- September 30, 2020
Today, I wanted to share with you some of the best Marcus Aurelius quotes on life, love, and death. Personally, Aurelius has been one of my favorite philosophers and I try to apply Stoicism in my daily life.
With that in mind, the quotes that I selected are broken down into 3 sections:
- Marcus Aurelius quotes on life and happiness
- Marcus Aurelius quotes on love, fate, and respect
- Marcus Aurelius quotes on death and pain
The quotes that I picked can be found in his famous book, Meditations. When you read these quotes you will get to see a glimpse of his thoughts on these subjects and you will see why he is still popular today.
Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Life And Happiness
These Marcus Aurelius quotes will allow you to see the importance in finding TRUE happiness in life. And while reading these quotes, you will find that our journey of happiness comes from within.
5. “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.” – Marcus Aurelius
6. “Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.” – Marcus Aurelius
7. “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
8. “Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” – Marcus Aurelius
9. “Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense.” – Marcus Aurelius
10. “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Love, Fate And Respect
In this section, you will find some of the best Marcus Aurelius quotes on these subjects. As you read these quotes, you can see that Aurelius believed in the importance of finding a harmony with nature, love, acceptance, and respect.
12. “To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.” – Marcus Aurelius
13. “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” – Marcus Aurelius
14. “You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you.” – Marcus Aurelius
15. “The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do. Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew.” – Marcus Aurelius
16. “Consider if you have behaved to all in such a way that this way be said of you: Never has he wronged a man in deed or word.” – Marcus Aurelius
17. “In your conversation, don’t dwell at excessive length on your own deeds or adventures. Just because you enjoy recounting your exploits doesn’t mean that others derive the same pleasure from hearing about them.” – Marcus Aurelius
18. “People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.” – Marcus Aurelius
19. “Do not be whirled about, but in every movement have respect to justice, and on the occasion of every impression maintain the faculty of comprehension or understanding.” – Marcus Aurelius
20. “If a man is mistaken, instruct him kindly and show him his error. But if you are not able, blame yourself, or not even yourself.” – Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Quotes On Death And Pain
In this section, we will take a look at some powerful Marcus Aurelius quotes on the sensitive subjects, death and pain. As you read these quotes, you will see that Aurelius believed that we all need to accept our fate.
It could be today, it could be next week, or 10 years from now. But, the only way to be free from that anxiety of death is to truly make terms with our end.
22. “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aurelius
23. “Death. The end of sense-perception, of being controlled by our emotions, of mental activity, of enslavement to our bodies.” – Marcus Aurelius
24. “Death and pain are not frightening, it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear. Which is why we praise the poet who wrote, ‘Death is not fearful, but dying like a coward is.” – Marcus Aurelius
25. “Speaking for myself, I hope death overtakes me when I’m occupied solely with the care of my character, in an effort to make it passionless, free, unrestricted and unrestrained.” – Marcus Aurelius
26. “Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you’re alive and able – be good.” – Marcus Aurelius
27. “When somebody’s wife or child dies, to a man we all routinely say, ‘Well, that’s part of life.’ But if one of our own family is involved, then right away it’s ‘Poor, poor me!’ We would do better to remember how we react when a similar loss afflicts others.” – Marcus Aurelius
28. “Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.” – Marcus Aurelius
29. “Finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements?” – Marcus Aurelius
30. “Death is necessary and cannot be avoided. I mean, where am I going to go to get away from it?” – Marcus Aurelius
31. “Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.” – Marcus Aurelius
32. “Death is a release from the impressions of the senses, and from desires that make us their puppets, and from the vagaries of the mind, and from the hard service of the flesh.” – Marcus Aurelius
33. “Because we’re the only animals who not only die but are conscious of it even while it happens, we are beset by anxiety.” – Marcus Aurelius
34. “Death is not an evil. What is it then? The one law mankind has that is free of all discrimination.” – Marcus Aurelius
35. “I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.” – Marcus Aurelius
Sean Gagne
I am just a normal guy who loves philosophy and wants to share his love with the rest of the world. If you'd like to know more, check out my about me!
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