Marcus Aurelius Life Quotations

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

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.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

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.

When thou art above measure angry, bethink thee how momentary is man's life.

Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also.

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.

Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.

Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.

Execute every act of thy life as though it were thy last.

Do every act of your life as if it were your last.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

The act of dying is one of the acts of life.

Let men see, let them know, a real man, who lives as he was meant to live.

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.

And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.

Every man's life lies within the present; for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain.

Your life is an expression of all your thoughts.

Life is not merely being alive, but being well

Shame on the soul, to falter on the road of life while the body yet endures

Knowledge the clue to life can give: Then wherefore hesitate to live

Remember this, - that there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life

Remember that no man loses any other life than this which he now lives, nor lives any other than this which he now loses

Surrender your life serenely, as serenely as the One who takes it from you

The present joys of life we doubly taste by looking back with pleasure on the past

To be able to enjoy one's past life is to live twice

Everyman's life lies within the present, for the past is spent and done with, and the future is uncertain

Your life is what your thoughts make it.

The universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.

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.

No man is quick enough to enjoy life

Execute every act of life as though it were thy last

Good men make life a twofold span to last: Twice does he live who can enjoy his past

Spend your brief moment according to nature's law, and serenely greet the journey's end as an olive falls when it is ripe, blessing the branch that bare it, and giving thanks to the tree that gave it life.

Just as the sand-dunes, heaped one upon another, hide each the first, so in life the former deeds are quickly hidden by those that follow after.

Let thine occupations be few, saith the sage, if thou wouldst lead a tranquil life.

Deem not life a thing of consequence. For look at the yawning void of the future, and at that other limitless space, the past.

Vex not thy spirit at the course of things; they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life.

Just consider, my friend, whether a pure spirit and virtue are anything other than saving your life and being saved. Perhaps we need to discard the idea of longevity and cease loving this life, instead committing these things to God and, believing that no one ever escapes destiny, to consider, with that in mind, how we may live the best possible life in the time that remains.

Our life is what our thoughts make it. Do every act of your life as if it were your last. In a word, your life is short. You must make the most of the present with the aid of reason and justice. Since it is possible that you may be quitting life this very moment, govern every act and thought accordingly.

What we do now echoes in eternity.

Can anything that is useful be accomplished without change?

Remember that even if you were to live for three thousand years, or thirty thousand, you could not lose any other life than the one you have, and there will be no other life after it. So the longest and the shortest lives are the same. The present moment is shared by all living creatures, but the time that is past is gone forever. No one can lose the past or the future, for if they don't belong to you, how can they be taken from you?

Every instant of time... is a pinprick of eternity.

Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible; life in a palace is possible; therefore even in a palace a right life is possible.

One whose chief regard is for his own mind, and for the divinity within him and the service of its goodness, will strike no poses, utter no complaints, and crave neither for solitude nor yet for a crowd. Best of all, his life will be free from continual pursuing and avoiding.

Remember that man lives only in the present, in this fleeting instant; all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or not yet revealed.

Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.

Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.

The universe is in change, life is an opinion.

All that is harmony for you, my Universe, is in harmony with me as well. Nothing that comes at the right time for you is too early or too late for me. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, Nature. All things come of you, have their being in you, and return to you.

A person's life is dyed with the color of his imagination.

Take it that you have died today, and your life's story is ended; and henceforward regard what future time may be given you as uncovenanted surplus, and live it out in harmony with nature.

Each day provides its own gifts.

Stop whatever you're doing for a moment and ask yourself: Am I afraid of death because I won't be able to do this anymore?

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.