What can we learn from Marcus Aurelius about life and happiness?
Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher and Roman emperor, left behind a wealth of wisdom on how to approach life, happiness, and challenges. His teachings, still relevant today, encourage us to master our minds and live with purpose, focusing on the inner self rather than external circumstances.
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." - Marcus Aurelius
"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears." - Marcus Aurelius
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking." - Marcus Aurelius
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." - Marcus Aurelius
"If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed." - Marcus Aurelius
"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
"Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?" - Marcus Aurelius
"Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not 'This is misfortune,' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'" - Marcus Aurelius
"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness." - Marcus Aurelius
"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
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love." - Marcus Aurelius
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius
"Our life is what our thoughts make it." - Marcus Aurelius
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." - Marcus Aurelius
