Meditations
- This article is about the writings by Marcus Aurelius. For the writings by Descartes, see Meditations on First Philosophy. For the practice of meditation, see meditation.
Meditations is a series of writings by Marcus Aurelius setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations in Greek while on campaign between 170 and 180, as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. These memos survive and continue to inspire others to this day. It is not clear that he ever intended the writings to be published, so the title Meditations is but one of several commonly assigned to the collection. Some popular English translations include:
- The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius, translated by Meric Casaubon. J.M. Dent & Co. (London). 1906-1908.
- Meditations, translated by Maxwell Stainforth. ISBN 0140441409.
- Meditations, translated by Gregory Hays. ISBN 0679642609.
- The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of the Meditations, translated by Scot and David Hicks. ISBN 0743233832.
Quotations
- If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now. (trans. George Long)
- A cucumber is bitter. Throw it away. There are briars in the road. Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, "And why were such things made in the world?" (trans. George Long)
- Let opinion be taken away, and no man will think himself wronged. If no man shall think himself wronged, then is there no more any such thing as wrong. (trans. Meric Casaubon)
External links
- The Meditations, an online version at the Internet Classics Archive
- The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, an online version from The Harvard Classics series, published 1909-1914.
- Meditations, an online version from Project Gutenburg (text is from the The Golden Book of Marcus Aurelius, translated by Meric Caubon, published 1906-1908.)