Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library Classics)

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He wants to be a good man, doing the right things, and reminding him in these meditations how to live the good life. This account of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius is an insightful book on the ideas of righteous living and facing adversities. That he respected tradition without needing to constantly congratulate himself for Safeguarding Our Traditional Values. And while I found Meditations to be profound at times, I also found it to be a frustrating read to really dive into, and downright depressing at times.

Stoicism might not be for everyone, it assumes more free will then we might have, and it places responsibility on the individual to be comfortable with their own unhappiness, but there is enough in these writings by the emperor to connect to many human generations. His awareness of his own mortality and how transient life is made him grateful for every day and for every person in his life. d. 161 and Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. And to have seen someone who clearly viewed his expertise and ability as a teacher as the humblest of virtues.Ancient philosophical ideas are not difficult or complicated in themselves, they are just written in (what can appear to the layman as) convoluted language. Most of Aurelius' words are built upon centuries of other stoic philosophers, and there are themes related to Stoicism that need a precursor.

He always strived to become better, acutely aware of the responsibilities that lay on him and of the people's expectations, trying to meet them all. One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The translator's introduction agrees, and suggests that Marcus's pessimistic evaluation of human life is "impoverishing. This was not meant for publication and doesn’t seem like a straightforward diary, but it has been in modern times considered a self-help book. His later reputation rests on his Meditations, written during his later years and never meant for formal publication Gregory Hays is assistant professor of classics at the University of Virginia.

I took my time reading Aurelius' Meditations as, going into it I knew the man conveys meaningful concepts in very little space. Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done and there is nothing new under the sun. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

The Meditations refers often to the need to act "unselfishly," yet much of its advice seems to center on seeking tranquillity within oneself and ignoring the outside world.

It is just a different reading experience, one that I (a new, naïve reader) was neither expecting nor wanting. To show your teachers ungrudging respect (the Domitius and Athenodotus story), and your children unfeigned love. Petty grievance time: I read the Kindle version, and there are no links from the passages to the notes.We learn more about our bodies, souls, and minds and how to deal with emotions like anger, anxiety, grief, and so on. The way he handled the material comforts that fortune had supplied him in such abundance-without arrogance and without apology.