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Marcus Aurelius: Wisdom of the Philosopher King | Life & Quotes
Discover the timeless wisdom of the great Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius. This video explores his life, philosophy, and most powerful quotes that inspire personal growth, resilience, and inner peace. Discover how the teachings of the Philosopher King can guide you to overcome challenges, master your passions, and live a fulfilling life. Perfect for history buffs, philosophy enthusiasts, and anyone looking for ancient wisdom for modern times.
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00:00Imagine a ruler who combined the might of an emperor with the wisdom of a philosopher.
00:07Meet Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five good emperors and a pivotal figure in Stoic philosophy.
00:14Born on April 26, 121 AD, in Rome, Marcus ascended to the throne in March 161 AD.
00:22He ruled until March 180 AD, alongside co-emperors Lucius Verus and, later, his son Commodus.
00:31His reign marked the end of the Pax Romana, a period of peace and stability for the Roman Empire.
00:38Marcus was educated in literature and philosophy, with a notable focus on Stoicism, which profoundly influenced his governance.
00:47He believed in self-restraint, duty, and respect for others.
00:51His philosophical teachings are encapsulated in, meditations, a collection of personal writings reflecting his thoughts on morality and life.
01:01While Marcus sought peace, his reign was marked by numerous challenges.
01:06The Parthian War began shortly after his accession, leading to significant military conflicts.
01:13Marcus bravely led campaigns against the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatian tribes during the Marcomannic Wars.
01:20In addition to warfare, his reign was marked by the Antonin Plague, which devastated the population, further taxing the empire's resources.
01:30Despite these hardships, Marcus maintained a belief in the power of virtue and reason.
01:37Marcus Aurelius presided over significant legal reforms, focusing on justice for the poor and the regulation of slavery.
01:44He respected the Roman Senate and involved them in decision-making, highlighting his commitment to the republic's principles.
01:53Recognized as a philosopher king, he promoted Stoicism, advocating for inner peace and rationality to face life's challenges gracefully.
02:02His meditations serve as timeless wisdom, shaping modern self-help and philosophical thought.
02:08Despite being a diligent leader, Marcus faced criticism, particularly regarding the treatment of Christians during his reign.
02:17Although persecuted, he appears to have been less directly involved in their suffering.
02:23Marcus passed away on March 17, 180 AD, leaving behind a complex legacy.
02:29His son, Commodus, succeeded him, a choice that has drawn historical scrutiny due to Commodus' erratic rule.
02:38Marcus Aurelius remains a symbol of the philosopher-ruler, blending the martial and the meditative.
02:44His insights into the human condition and governance continue to resonate today.
02:49Consider how Marcus Aurelius balanced the power of the sword and the pen in his pursuit of a just society.
02:56Marcus Aurelius wrote a book titled, Meditations, where he shared his thoughts and ideas.
03:02Many of his famous quotes come from this book.
03:06Marcus Aurelius also enjoyed learning about a way of thinking called Stoicism.
03:11This involves using your mind and logic to understand things and do the right thing.
03:16It teaches that being good and doing your duty are essential.
03:21The initiator of this way of thinking was Zeno, who attended a famous school called Plato's Academy.
03:28Marcus Aurelius was a wise and kind-hearted leader of Rome, known as the Philosopher King.
03:35He was one of the last of a special group of emperors known as the Five Good Emperors,
03:39who chose intelligent people to be their next leaders instead of simply appointing their own sons as rulers.
03:46He was the ruler of Rome from 161 to 180.
03:52During his time, Rome was going through very difficult times, such as a terrible disease called the Antonin Plague,
03:59wars in faraway places, and wars with Germanic tribes.
04:04Despite all this, people loved him very much because he was fair and loving.
04:09Best Marcus Aurelius quotes.
04:111. 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.
04:212. You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
04:283. Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.
04:35Think constantly on the changes of the elements into each other, for such thoughts wash away the dust of earthly life.
04:424. The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
04:465. Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
04:546. Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be.
04:59Be one.
05:017. How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it?
05:068. The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
05:109. 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.
05:2010. The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.
05:2511. 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.
05:3312. If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.
05:3913. Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what's left as a bonus and live it according to nature.
05:49Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?
05:5414. Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself in your way of thinking.
06:0115. Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.
06:0716. The memory of everything is very soon overwhelmed in time.
06:1417. Try praying differently, and see what happens.
06:18Instead of asking for a way to sleep with her, try asking for a way to stop desiring to sleep with her.
06:25Instead of a way to get rid of him, try asking for a way to not crave his demise.
06:30Instead of, a way to not lose my child, try asking for, a way to lose my fear of it.
06:3818. Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess,
06:45and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.
06:4819. I have learned, to read with diligence, not to rest satisfied with a light and superficial knowledge,
06:56nor quickly to assent to things commonly spoken of.
07:0020. You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all.
07:0721. It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given
07:12and not waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices.
07:1822. The mind freed from passions is an impenetrable fortress.
07:22A person has no more secure place of refuge for all time.
07:2723. That cucumber is bitter, so toss it out.
07:31There are thorns on the path, then keep away.
07:34Enough said, why ponder the existence of nuisance?
07:3724. A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions.
07:4425. Let each thing you would do, say, or intend be like that of a dying person.
07:5026. The best answer to anger is silence.
07:5527. Give thyself leisure to learn some good thing, and cease roving and wandering to and fro.
08:0228. Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible.
08:0729. You have been formed of three parts, body, breath and mind.
08:13Of these, the first two are yours, insofar as they are only in your care.
08:18The third alone is truly yours.
08:2130. Don't return to philosophy as a taskmaster, but as patients seek out relief in a treatment
08:27of sore eyes, or a dressing for a burn, or from an ointment.
08:31Regarding it this way, you'll obey reason without putting it on display and rest easy in its care.
08:3831. Never let the future disturb you.
08:41You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
08:4832. The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, because an artful life requires being prepared to meet and withstand sudden and unexpected attacks.
08:5833. No random actions, none not based on underlying principles.
09:0434. Keep a list before your mind of those who burned with anger and resentment about something,
09:10of even the most renowned for success, misfortune, evil deeds, or any special distinction.
09:17Then ask yourself, how did that work out? Smoke and dust, the stuff of simple myth trying to be legend.
09:2435. Whenever someone has done wrong by you, immediately consider what notion of good or evil they had in doing it.
09:33For when you see that, you'll feel compassion, instead of astonishment or rage.
09:3736. Choose not to be harmed, and you won't feel harmed. Don't feel harmed, and you haven't been.
09:4637. Stay calm and serene regardless of what life throws at you.
09:5138. Kindness is invincible, but only when it's sincere, with no hypocrisy or faking.
09:5739. For what can even the most malicious person do if you keep showing kindness and, if given the chance,
10:04you gently point out where they went wrong, right as they are trying to harm you.
10:0939. How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks,
10:15but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
10:1940. If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right,
10:23I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed.
10:30It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.
10:3541. Wherever a person can live, their one can also live well.
10:4042. All you need are these.
10:43Certainty of judgment in the present moment, action for the common good in the present moment,
10:48and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.
10:5343. It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in
10:59due proportion to its worth, for then you won't tire and give up, if you aren't busying yourself
11:04with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.
11:0844. Don't be ashamed of needing help.
11:11You have a duty to fulfill, just like a soldier on the wall of battle.
11:15So what if you are injured and can't climb up without another soldier's help?
11:1945. Whatever anyone does or says, for my part, I'm bound to the good.
11:26In the same way, an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim,
11:31whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.
11:3646. The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
11:40The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.
11:4447. Pass through this brief patch of time in harmony with nature and come to your final
11:50resting place gracefully, just as a ripened olive might drop, praising the earth that nourished it
11:56and grateful to the tree that gave it growth. 48. I learned to read carefully and not be satisfied
12:03with a rough understanding of the whole and not to agree too quickly with those who have a lot to say
12:07about something. 49. Life is short. The fruit of this life is a good character
12:14and acts for the common good. 50. Dig deep within yourself,
12:19for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging.
12:2451. That which isn't good for the hive isn't good for the bee.
12:2952. Accept the things to which fate binds you,
12:32and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.
12:3753. Here is a rule to remember in future. When anything tempts you to feel bitter.
12:44Not, this is misfortune, but, to bear this worthily is good fortune.
12:5054. Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.
12:5755. We live only now, everything else is either past or is unknown.
13:0256. To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.
13:0957. Do not act as if you were going to live 10,000 years.
13:14Death hangs over you, while you live, while it is in your power, be good.
13:1958. It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
13:2559. What we do now echoes in eternity.
13:3060. Understand at last that you have something in you more powerful and divine than what causes
13:36the bodily passions and pulls you like a mere puppet. What thoughts now occupy my mind?
13:42Is it not fear, suspicion, desire, or something like that?
13:4761. The universe is transformation. Our life is what our thoughts make it.
13:5262. Look well into thyself. There is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou
13:59wilt always look. 63. This is the mark of perfection of character.
14:05To spend each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, laziness, or any pretending.
14:1264. Every living organism is fulfilled when it follows the right path for its own nature.
14:1765. It isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human and
14:25therefore manlier. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.
14:3166. Begin each day by telling yourself. Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude,
14:39insolence, disloyalty, ill-willed, and selfishness. All of them due to the offender's ignorance of what
14:45is good or evil. 67. For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.
14:5368. Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun.
14:59If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.
15:0469. Receive without conceit, release without struggle.
15:0970. You always own the option of having no opinion.
15:12There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control.
15:18These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.
15:2371. There is no nature that is inferior to art, for the arts imitate the nature of things.
15:3072. Frightened of change, but what can exist without it?
15:35What's closer to nature's heart? Can you take a hot bath and leave the firewood as it was?
15:40Eat food without transforming it? Can any vital process take place without something being changed?
15:47Can't you see? It's just the same with you. Injustice vital to nature.
15:5273. Often, injustice lies in what you aren't doing, not only in what you are doing.
15:5974. Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question.
16:05What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
16:1075. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it.
16:18And this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
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