'Do not act as if you had ten thousand years to live ... while you have life in you, while you still can, make yourself good.'
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) is a private notebook of philosophical reflections, written by a Roman emperor probably on military campaign in Germany. In short, highly charged comments, Marcus draws on Stoic philosophy to confront challenges that he felt acutely, but which are also shared by all human beings - the looming presence of death, making sense of one's social role and projects, the moral significance of the universe. They bring us closer to the personality of the emperor, who is often disillusioned with his own status and with human activities in general; they are both an historical document and a remarkable spiritual diary.
This translation by Robin Hard brings out the eloquence and universality of Marcus' thoughts. The introduction and notes by Christopher Gill place the Meditations firmly in the ancient philosophical context. A selection of Marcus' correspondence with his tutor Fronto broadens the picture of the emperor as a person and thinker.
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Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199573202
Number of pages: 208
Weight: 156 g
Dimensions: 195 x 139 x 20 mm
This book will soon become an essential item to carry around with you for a quick glance now and again - solace and wisdom can seldom be found so readily in such brief writings. It will teach you how to think, act and... More
I've been curious about this book for a long time but kept putting it off, thinking it would be too dense and too hard to read. Wrong! I'm left with a vision of a modern-day man, writing thoughts on Post-It... More
The meditations are a collection of his thoughts and notes written for himself. So not a systematic philosophy that you will find in other works. You'll read of recurring themes that he continued to remind... More
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