Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)

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The thoughts of Marcus Aurelius recorded as private notes to himself and now widely known as Meditations shows us what a deep thinker and a great philosopher he has been. It is of little surprise that he had been one of the "five good Emperors" since he surely must have ruled the Empire by the principles reflected in his meditations. But it is surprising why no one has given heed to these advisory notes he is so painstakingly recorded since he is the last of the five good Emperors. It is strange how often good and just advice is overlooked. The actual “book” however is decent. I call it a “book” specifically because this is not truly a book. It’s a glorified diary from someone who lived a very long time ago. With the way the introduction was written, who knows what was lost to history and what the translator had the liberty of changing. This diary had its moments where a point connected with me and had me questioning something in my life which is why I gave it 3 stars. There are valuable lessons in this, some more valuable than others depending on the person, which make me glad I read it. We know. We KNOW. And Marcus Aurelius knew. But we have to give ourselves these little reminders: Don't fear death. It's natural. It has happened before and will happen again. Be slow to anger. Don't let grief consume you. If you don't let grief consume you, it won't. Be kind. You can't control other people. Maybe they don't know better: "But I do."

In the UK there is a tradition for politicians, or at least for the posher type of politician, to study “PPE” or “Politics, Philosophy and Economics” at either Oxford or Cambridge University. Just like when I read Cicero last year ( https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), I finished this book wishing this was still a mandatory text: it's not perfect, but there is some important wisdom in here, and I wish more people were exposed to this kind of writing. And it is still incredibly relevant, and applicable to many daily life situations.opinia filosofului, am impresia, cărțile reprezintă doar un prilej de a murmura împotriva autorilor și a gîndurilor exprimate de ei, împotriva morții binefăcătoare. Este preferabil, în consecință, să primești sfîrșitul cu deplină smerenie, cu sufletul împăcat. Cărțile nu dau un exemplu bun. În tragediile grecești, în Antigona, să zicem, nu găsim decît lamentații, împotrivire, lipsă de măsură, o frenezie zadarnică. The composition of the Meditations is normally dated to the 170s—Marcus's last decade. That this was a dark and stressful period for him can hardly be doubted. The perfection of moral character consists in this, in passing every day as the last, and in being neither violently excited nor torpid nor playing the hypocrite." Even if you were destined to live three thousand years, or ten times that long, nevertheless remember that no one loses any life other than the one he lives, or lives any life other than the one he loses…No one can lose either the past or the future – how could anyone be deprived of what he does not possess?…It is only the present moment of which either stands to be deprived: and if indeed this is all he has, he cannot lose what he does not have.”

Marcus Aurelius is full of logic and revealing comments about life, death and the universe. His meditations are very open and very honest. And I found them quite touching. The history of his reign as Roman Emperor is impressive, but behind all his success was a very human person struggling and suffering with the same problems that plague all of us. He comes to terms with his mortality and his insignificance in the face of history and time. We are all of us only here a brief time, and we need to make the most of it. The time during which you are alive is very very brief compared to the time during which you did not exist and will not exist. I will also note that I have not read any other translations of Meditations. So I'm not qualified to note if this is a good one or not. Considering how many people a book like this has to go through before getting published, I would imagine that it is at least passable. People's opinion on this subject tends to depend on which translation they read first.Lee lifted the breadbox and took out a tiny volume bound in leather, and the gold tooling was almost completely worn away—The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius in English translation. And: "If at some point in your life, you should come across anything better than justice, honesty, self-control, courage - than a mind satisfied that it succeeded in enabling you to act rationally, and satisfied to accept what is beyond its control - if you find anything better than that, embrace it without reservations - it must be an extraordinary thing indeed - and enjoy it to the full." Book III The Roman philosophers are not as well known or as highly regarded as Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, or Zeno the Stoic - and for a simple reason: the Roman thinkers were not primarily interested in abstract theory; rather, they were concerned with behavior, that is, understanding how to live in the everyday world and putting their understanding into practice,the goal being to live the life of an authentic philosopher, to be a person of high character and integrity and virtue, to develop inner strength and a quiet mind and value such strength and quietude above all else. But despite such an expensive education our political masters don't have half the grasp on the classics that Marcus has, which is remarkable considering he was home-schooled. I wish Marcus would consider a career in politics just to show up our current representatives for the intellectual pygmies that they really are.

Multă vreme, lucrarea lui Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 - 180) a rămas necunoscută. Observațiile împăratului, scrise în limba greacă (și nu în latină), așa era moda printre nobili (Atena cucerise deja Roma), între anii 170 și 180, au fost tipărite abia în 1558, după un manuscris azi pierdut. Împăratul consemna sugestii, vorbea cu sine, reflecta, veghea. Nu a avut deloc vanitate de autor. That these thoughts came from the most powerful man in the world, a man whose personal power so vastly exceeded the personal power of any American president that we have difficulty comprehending it, makes it all the more impressive. Aurelius continually writes that strength comes from humility, self-restraint and good humor towards others. He teaches us to accept what we cannot control and to trust what we know. If you're looking to study Stoicism as a whole, I would like to recommend not starting with this. Most of Aurelius' words are built upon centuries of other stoic philosophers, and there are themes related to Stoicism that need a precursor. The idea of Logos being chief among them. I will say it's the pinnacle of Stoic thought, but that is what makes it a terrible starting point. Don't read it as a scholar, you will end up like this reviewer. As I said earlier - He is like the wisdom of ages. Aargh :) Not that it is all bad - it is like reading an old uncles's notes after he has been preaching to you all your life.

ENDSHEETS & RIBBON

Ryan Holiday has convinced me that this is one of those books from which we can all learn. And now I wholeheartedly agree. And am grateful to him. Ten key learnings (that i love - of many) i found on www: Meditations deal extensively with the concept of death. Marcus Aurelius explains why one must not be afraid of inevitable demise. altă parte, împăratul scrie: „Înlătură setea de cărți, ca să nu mori cîrtind, ci dimpotrivă, cu adevărat mulţumit, senin şi recunoscător din toată inima zeilor!” (II: 3, p.85). Adaugă imediat: „Lasă deoparte cărţile! Nu te mai chinui! Nu îţi este dat...”. Nimic mai enigmatic decît aceste enunțuri lapidare. Moartea se cuvine întîmpinată în liniște. Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago. There is a strange dichotomy to Meditations. There is great wisdom to be had while also containing rambling nonsense. The thing you have to understand is that this book is a series of entries some guy made of his, sometimes completely random, thoughts. Conceitedly, that's basically what philosophy is. Forced perspective in written form. And, as with the rest of the human race, not every thought is a winner.