Marcus Aurelius

121–180 CE · Rome

First attested: 180 CEMeditations (Ta Eis Heauton), surviving in Byzantine manuscript traditions.

You have power over your mind, not outside events; realise this, and you will find strength.

Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE and the last of the "Five Good Emperors". While leading military campaigns on the Danubian frontier, he authored a private philosophical journal in Greek, now known as the Meditations (Ta Eis Heauton), articulating Stoic duty, self-discipline, and cosmic acceptance.

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Steadfast moral responsibility, emotional resilience, and devotion to the common good.

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Emotional suppression, fatalism, or joyless resignation.

Sources and verification2 sources · 1 link

Primary source

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Ta Eis Heauton), 180, Book IV, 3–4The inner citadel doctrine: the mind has no needs unless it creates them, and is untroubled unless it troubles itself.

Scholarship

Pierre Hadot, The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, 1998Definitive scholarly reconstruction of spiritual exercises and philosophical equanimity in Marcus Aurelius.

Linked entries

Derives fromSocratesAttested
Marcus Aurelius cites Socrates as a primary exemplar of self-discipline, moral courage, and indifference to public opinion.

Marcus Aurelius

121–180 CE · Rome

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