Quotes from Ancient Times
Marcus Aurelius 121 - 180 AD Roman Emperor, Philosopher
Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.
Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.
Thou wilt find rest from vain fancies if thou doest every act in life as though it were thy last.
Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.
If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now.
Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.
The art of living is more like that of wrestling than of dancing; the main thing is to stand firm and be ready for an unseen attack.
Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.
Your life is what your thoughts make it.
Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.
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.
How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks.
Remember that what pulls the strings is the force hidden within; there lies the power to persuade, there the life -- there, if one must speak out, the real man.
Confine yourself to the present
How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
When thou art above measure angry, bethink thee how momentary is man's life.
It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
I have often wondered how it is everyone loves himself more than the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than the opinions of others.
To understand the true quality of people, you must look into their minds, and examine their pursuits and aversions.
To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
One universe made up all that is; and one God in it all, and one principle of being, and one law, the reason shared by all thinking creatures, and one truth.
The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.
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.
A man's life is what his thoughts make of it.
Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see whether any shall note it.... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.
The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.
Time is a violent torrent; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place.
To change your mind and to follow him who sets you right is to be nonetheless the free agent that you were before.
Each thing is of like form from everlasting and comes round again in its cycle.
Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.
Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear.
That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.
Let it be your constant method to look into the design of people's actions, and see what they would be at, as often as it is practicable; and to make this custom the more significant, practice it first upon yourself.
Remember how often you have postponed minding your interest, and let slip those opportunities the gods have given you. It is now high time to consider what sort of world you are part of, and from what kind of governor of it you are descended; that you have a set period assigned you to act in, and unless you improve it to brighten and compose your thoughts, it will quickly run off with you, and be lost beyond recovery.
Memorable Quotes
Every instant of time is a pinprick of eternity.
Do every act of your life as if it were your last.
Men exist for the sake of one another.
Where a man can live, he can also live well.
Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be.
Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.
Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.
He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.
And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.
Insightful Quotes cards
Whatever the universal nature assigns to any man at any time is for the good of that man at that time.
Every man's life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.
Live not as though there were a thousand years ahead of you. Fate is at your elbow; make yourself good while life and power are still yours.
Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
A man should be upright, not be kept upright.
If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.