Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor and philosopher, left behind a treasure trove of wisdom in his personal writings known as the Meditations. His reflections on life, leadership, love, and stoicism have inspired countless individuals over the centuries. We’ve compiled 100 of the best Marcus Aurelius quotes to help you find inspiration and guidance in your own life. Whether you’re seeking insight on discipline, resilience, or the nature of love, these quotes provide timeless wisdom.

Marcus Aurelius Meditations Quotes

1. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
2. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
3. “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” – Marcus Aurelius
4. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius
5. “The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” – Marcus Aurelius
6. “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
7. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
8. “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
9. “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius
10. “The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.” – Marcus Aurelius

Best Marcus Aurelius Quotes

11. “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
12. “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” – Marcus Aurelius
13. “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
14. “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” – Marcus Aurelius
15. “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
16. “Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” – Marcus Aurelius
17. “You can commit injustice by doing nothing.” – Marcus Aurelius
18. “Confine yourself to the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
19. “Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.” – Marcus Aurelius
20. “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

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Life

21. “Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” – Marcus Aurelius
22. “The universe is changing; our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
23. “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
24. “A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions.” – Marcus Aurelius
25. “Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature’s delight.” – Marcus Aurelius
26. “Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness.” – Marcus Aurelius
27. “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” – Marcus Aurelius
28. “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.” – Marcus Aurelius
29. “Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” – Marcus Aurelius
30. “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Stoicism Quotes

31. “How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.” – Marcus Aurelius
32. “A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it.” – Marcus Aurelius
33. “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” – Marcus Aurelius
34. “Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.” – Marcus Aurelius
35. “Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” – Marcus Aurelius
36. “Whatever happens at all happens as it should; you will find this true, if you watch narrowly.” – Marcus Aurelius
37. “If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.” – Marcus Aurelius
38. “He who has a reason to live can bear almost any how.” – Marcus Aurelius
39. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius
40. “How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.” – Marcus Aurelius

Famous Marcus Aurelius Quotes

41. “Do not be ashamed of help.” – Marcus Aurelius
42. “A man should be upright, not be kept upright.” – Marcus Aurelius
43. “Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.” – Marcus Aurelius
44. “A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.” – Marcus Aurelius
45. “Men exist for the sake of one another.” – Marcus Aurelius
46. “The universe is transformation: life is opinion.” – Marcus Aurelius
47. “Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.” – Marcus Aurelius
48. “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” – Marcus Aurelius
49. “Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.” – Marcus Aurelius
50. “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius

Top 10 Marcus Aurelius Quotes

51. “It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.” – Marcus Aurelius
52. “No man can escape his destiny, the next inquiry being how he may best live the time that he has to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
53. “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” – Marcus Aurelius
54. “Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there is life, there, if one must speak out, the real man.” – Marcus Aurelius
55. “Whatever happens, happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.” – Marcus Aurelius
56. “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away.” – Marcus Aurelius
57. “Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?” – Marcus Aurelius
58. “What we do now echoes in eternity.” – Marcus Aurelius
59. “You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you cannot control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” – Marcus Aurelius
60. “Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Death

61. “A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him.” – Marcus Aurelius
62. “The universe is changing; our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
63. “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” – Marcus Aurelius
64. “The universe is changing; life is opinion.” – Marcus Aurelius
65. “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
66. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius
67. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
68. “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
69. “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.” – Marcus Aurelius
70. “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Leadership

71. “A man’s worth is no greater than his ambitions.” – Marcus Aurelius
72. “How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” – Marcus Aurelius
73. “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” – Marcus Aurelius
74. “Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life.” – Marcus Aurelius
75. “Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Discipline

76. “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” – Marcus Aurelius
77. “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
78. “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
79. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius
80. “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius

Love Marcus Aurelius Quotes

81. “Do not be ashamed of help.” – Marcus Aurelius
82. “Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then or bear with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
83. “Look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” – Marcus Aurelius
84. “Confine yourself to the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
85. “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Love

86. “Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.” – Marcus Aurelius
87. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius
88. “Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.” – Marcus Aurelius
89. “He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.” – Marcus Aurelius
90. “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.” – Marcus Aurelius

Powerful Marcus Aurelius Quotes

91. “Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” – Marcus Aurelius
92. “The universe is transformation: life is opinion.” – Marcus Aurelius
93. “Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.” – Marcus Aurelius
94. “He who has a reason to live can bear almost any how.” – Marcus Aurelius
95. “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Resilience

96. “The universe is changing; our life is what our thoughts make it.” – Marcus Aurelius
97. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius
98. “Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.” – Marcus Aurelius
99. “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” – Marcus Aurelius
100. “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Final Words

Marcus Aurelius’ wisdom from his Meditations continues to inspire and guide us through life’s challenges. His reflections on stoicism, leadership, love, and resilience offer timeless advice that can help us navigate our own paths with grace and strength. These quotes are a testament to his profound understanding of the human condition and the power of the mind.