Marcus Aurelius' Meditations: A Beginner's Guide to the Emperor's Notebook

Nearly two thousand years ago, the most powerful man in the Roman world sat down, often at the end of long days on military campaigns, and wrote notes to himself. He reminded himself to be patient with difficult people, to accept what he couldn't change, and to do his duty without complaint.

Those notes became one of the most widely read books of philosophy ever written: the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. If you're curious about Stoicism, it's one of the best places to start. Here's a guide.

Who was Marcus Aurelius?

Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE. His reign was far from peaceful. He faced long wars on the empire's northern frontier, a devastating plague, and personal losses, including the deaths of several of his children. Through it all, he tried to live by the Stoic philosophy he had studied since his youth.

He's often remembered as one of the most thoughtful rulers in history. But the Meditations show him not as a perfect sage, but as a person struggling, sometimes daily, to live up to his own ideals.

What is the Meditations?

The Meditations is a collection of private notes, written in Greek, divided into twelve books. Marcus probably never intended anyone else to read them. The title by which it's sometimes known, To Himself, captures this well. It isn't a structured treatise. It's a notebook of reminders, reflections, and exercises.

That's part of what makes it so accessible. You can open it at almost any page and find something useful. And because Marcus was writing for himself, there's an honesty to it that formal philosophy often lacks.

Key themes

• What's in your control. Marcus repeatedly returns to the idea that our judgments and actions are ours, while events and other people are not. My post on the dichotomy of control explores this.
• Impermanence. Everything changes and passes, including our troubles and ourselves. Marcus found this steadying rather than depressing. See memento mori.
• Dealing with difficult people. He expected to meet rude, ungrateful, and dishonest people, and resolved not to be harmed or angered by them.
• Duty and service. He saw himself as part of a larger whole and believed we're made to work together.
• The present moment. He reminded himself that the present is the only time anyone truly lives.
• The view from above. Imagining life from a great height to put problems in perspective. See the view from above.

Passages worth knowing

Here are a few lines from the classic George Long translation:

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.

— Marcus Aurelius

This isn't pessimism. Marcus goes on to say that such people act from ignorance, and that he can't be harmed by them unless he chooses to be. Expecting difficulty means it doesn't throw him off balance.

The universe is transformation: life is opinion.

— Marcus Aurelius

A compact statement of the Stoic idea that our judgments shape our experience.

If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgement about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgement now.

— Marcus Aurelius

How to read it

1. Choose a readable translation. Older translations, like George Long's, are free and widely available. Many modern translations read more naturally. It's worth sampling a few pages of different versions.
2. Read slowly. A few passages a day is plenty. The Meditations rewards reflection more than speed.
3. Don't read it front to back if you don't want to. Open it anywhere.
4. Keep a notebook. Write down passages that strike you and how they might apply to your life.
5. Remember the context. Some passages reflect ancient ideas about the gods or the universe. Take what's useful and leave the rest.

Why it still matters

The problems Marcus wrote about haven't changed much: stress, difficult people, loss, fear of death, the pull of anger and comparison. His tools for meeting them, such as questioning judgments, focusing on what's controllable, and remembering the bigger picture, are remarkably close to modern psychological approaches.

If you're new to Stoicism, my Stoicism 101 guide gives a broader introduction.

From reading to practice

Marcus didn't write to admire ideas. He wrote to practice them. The Meditations is a record of daily training. Reading it is a good start; applying one idea at a time is where the change happens.

In my sessions, I combine Stoic philosophy with hypnosis and NLP, so these ideas can be practiced in a calm, focused state, not just understood. You can read more about that approach in what is Stoic hypnotherapy? or see how sessions work on the sessions page.