Third time reading it.
It always has new value.
You should read it as well.
Flow: 5/5
Actionability: 4/5
Mindset: 5/5
Some of My Highlights:
“Logos: On a cosmic level it is the rational principle that governs the organization of the universe.”
“They are like this,” Marcus says of other people, “because they can’t tell good from evil”.
“Like other late Stoics (Seneca is a notable example), he was willing to accept truth wherever he found it.”
“For stoicism under the empire, the most important sources are the works of Seneca the Younger and Epictetus.”
“To hear unwelcome truths.”
“Not to write treatises on abstract questions, or deliver moralizing little sermons…”
“And to behave in a conciliatory way when people who have angered or annoyed us want to make up.”
“And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexibility.”
“To be free of passion and yet full of love.”
“To praise without bombast; to display expertise without pretension.”
“Doing your job without whining.”
“You could have said of him (as they say of Socrates) that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most people find it hard to abstain from and all too easy to enjoy.”
“That I wasn’t more talented in rhetoric or poetry, or other areas.”
“That when I became interested in philosophy I didn’t fall into the hands of charlatans, and didn’t get bogged down in writing treatises, or become absorbed by logic-chopping, or preoccupied with physics.”
“Concentrate every minute like a Roman – like a man – on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.”
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
“For you can’t lose either the past of the future; how could you lose what you don’t have?”
“Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people – unless it affects the common good.”
“He keeps in mind that all rational things are related, and that to care for all human beings is part of being human. Which doesn’t mean we have to share their opinions.”
“To stand up straight – not straightened.”
“Your ability to control your thoughts – treat it with respect.”
“Nothing is so conducive to spiritual growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.”
“To welcome with affection what is sent by fate.”
“…you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within.”