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100+ Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Legacy: Timeless Wisdom for Life
Marcus Aurelius, the renowned Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, has left an indelible mark on the world through his profound thoughts on legacy and the human condition. His wisdom, encapsulated in his "Meditations," guides us in understanding the enduring impact of our actions and words. In exploring these themes, this article compiles Marcus Aurelius quotes under various subtitles, reflecting on how to build a meaningful legacy. These insights encourage introspection and inspire us to contribute positively to the world, ensuring our actions leave a lasting impression. Dive into these enlightening quotes and discover the timeless wisdom of Marcus Aurelius.
Quotes on Inner Strength
"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."
"The tranquility that comes when you stop caring what they say. Or think, or do. Only what you do."
"Objective judgment, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment."
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."
"The best answer to anger is silence."
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts."
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love."
"If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it."
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."
"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look."
Quotes on Living with Purpose
"The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts."
"What we do now echoes in eternity."
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
"Remember that your ruling reason becomes invincible when it rallies and relies on itself, so as to do nothing that it does not will, even if it resists reason and the common good."
"To live happily is an inward power of the soul."
"Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life."
"The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing."
"How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life."
"Life is opinion."
"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly."
"Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it."
"Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts."
Quotes on Enduring Legacy
"All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike."
"Fame in a world like this is worthless."
"Live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just."
"When a person doesn’t know what harbor they are making for, no wind is the right wind."
"Soon you will have forgotten the world, and soon the world will have forgotten you."
"Keep yourself simple, good, pure, serious, unpretentious, a friend of justice, god-fearing, kind, full of love, and strong for your proper work."
"The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away."
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
"Stop bombarding your soul with questions, Look instead at your own conscience with open eyes."
"Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back."
"What we do in life ripples in eternity."
"Do not act as if you had a thousand years to live. Your fate is suspended in the balance. Life is but an instant, do the best you can now, for oblivion will be your resting place."
Quotes on Acceptance and Understanding
"The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it."
"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?"
"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears."
"Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them."
"Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear."
"Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?"
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too."
"The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around. That’s all you need to know."
"Do not be afraid for you are living according to nature."
"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature’s delight."
"Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be."
"How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life."
Quotes on Character and Conduct
"A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions."
"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy."
"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."
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one."
"To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference."
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live."
"When you wake up in the morning tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly."
"People exist for one another. You can instruct or endure them."
"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy."
"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."
"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look."
"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."
Quotes on Wisdom and Growth
"Everything that happens is either endurable or not. If it is endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. If it is unendurable… then stop complaining. Your destruction will mean its end as well."
"Do not act as if you had a thousand years to live. Your fate hangs over you. While you’re alive and able, be good."
"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."
"Each day provides its own gifts."
"The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have."
"Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig."
"There is a limit to the time assigned you, and if you don't use it to free yourself it will be gone and never return."
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature."
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love."
"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury."
"The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing."
"Perfection of character: to live your last day, every day, without frenzy, or sloth, or pretense."
Quotes on Reflection and Meditation
"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul."
"Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man’s life is colored by how he thinks."
"No man is happy who does not think himself so."
"Nowhere you can go is more peaceful – more free of interruptions – than your own soul."
"The same principles that hold true in one situation must hold true in another unless you want to contradict yourself."
"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."
"To live happily is an inward power of the soul."
"Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts."
"The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it."
"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look."
"Your life is what your thoughts make it; your thought is temporary, but humanity cannot endure it long."
"Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul."
Quotes on Human Relations
"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
"When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't distinguish between good and evil."
"How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it."
"Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you."
"People exist for the sake of one another."
"The happiness of those who want to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek pleasure fluctuates with moods outside their control; but the happiness of the wise grows out of their own free acts."
"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?"
"A well-bred man does not offend easily."
"That which is not good for the bee-hive, cannot be good for the bees."
"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."
"Kindness is invincible."
"We are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To stop cooperation is as if to impede their proper function."
Quotes on Time and Nature
"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away."
"Nature does not make errors, for all things have their place and time."
"The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it."
"We all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own."
"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly."
"Observe constantly that all things take place by change, and accustom yourself to consider that the Nature of the Universe loves nothing so much as to change the things that are, and to make new things like them."
"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."
"Think of the whole universe of matter and how small your share."
"Each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle."
"Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear."
"What new things then shall we utter? Or how is that which is now happening anything new or strange?"
"What is now the mirror of the moment; in the past, the shadow of the future; feels every instant the force and essence of this eternal circle."
Quotes on Determination and Resolve
"In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don't wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business."
"That which is not good for the bee-hive, cannot be good for the bees."
"If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it."
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
"Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear."
"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it."
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking."
"When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love."
"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too."
"So other people hurt me? That’s their problem. Their character and actions are not mine. What kind of people they are cannot harm me."
"Adapt yourself to the environment in which your lot is cast and show true love to the fellow creatures with whom destiny has surrounded you."
"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."
Final words
Marcus Aurelius provides profound insights into the nature of existence and the legacy we leave behind. His teachings remind us that true strength comes from within and that the pursuit of virtue and wisdom is a lifelong journey. Through remaining steadfast in our intentions and actions, we create a legacy that echoes through eternity. Embracing the stoic principles of acceptance, growth, and reflection allows us to navigate life's tumultuous sea with grace and purpose. Aurelius's enduring wisdom continues to inspire and challenge us, urging each of us to reflect on the impact of our lives, fostering a future where our contributions benefit the world long after we are gone. By heeding his words, we aim not only to improve ourselves but also to leave a meaningful and positive mark on the legacy of humanity. Let his insights guide us as we craft a life that is both purposeful and enduring.
Discover over 100 insightful quotes from Marcus Aurelius on legacy, offering timeless wisdom to inspire and guide your life's journey.
