Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library Classics)

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Demorei mais de um mês para lê-lo, dificilmente conseguia ler mais de um livro (são 12 no total) por vez e várias vezes retornava na mesma frase várias vezes para garantir o meu entendimento. And to have seen someone who clearly viewed his expertise and ability as a teacher as the humblest of virtues. Schooled in the classic tradition, Marcus Aurelius reflects the mature harvest of the Stoic school of philosophy. If you were to compile a catalogue of "debts and lessons" like the first book of the Meditations, who would appear in it? I read about 2-3 pages a day because it was too dense to read more than that at once, and I mean that in a good way.

Because everything is so clear, is common sense and applicable to our life today the experience reading this book is profound. In urging himself not to fear death, Marcus makes use of several arguments found in other ancient thinkers: that others have faced extinction with courage, that death is a natural process, that non-existence did not harm us before our birth and can't harm us after it, that death is unavoidable in any case. The important thing to understand is that this book was never intended to be read by anyone other than Marcus Aurelius. Similarly, not to be always ducking my responsibilities to the people around me because of "pressing business.His later reputation rests on his Meditations, written during his later years and never meant for formal publication Gregory Hays is assistant professor of classics at the University of Virginia. The translator's introduction agrees, and suggests that Marcus's pessimistic evaluation of human life is "impoverishing. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. It was more of a custom self-help book, a place where Marcus would give advice to himself and articulate his arguments and worldview.

Not the easiest thing to do sometimes, but trying to realize when I am in other people’s business and not my own has helped me on a few occasions recently. The gods did all they could-through their gifts, their help, their inspiration-to ensure that I could live as nature demands. A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written.He was faced with a series of invasions from German tribes, and by conflicts with the Parthian Empire in the east. But, it has helped me to recognize that these negative thoughts are affecting me because I'm allowing them to.

Here is a man who was the Emperor of the Roman Empire —the most powerful— yet who never took advantage of his power, never abused his position, was never arrogant nor proud.He always strived to become better, acutely aware of the responsibilities that lay on him and of the people's expectations, trying to meet them all.

And if you are interested in Stoicism, then you should also take a look at some other books that explore Stoicism, Buddhism, happiness and enjoying life. It's important to read this with a contextual understanding of consistency and never giving up attitude. If god appeared to us – or a wise human being, even – and prohibited us from concealing our thoughts or imagining anything without immediately shouting it out, we wouldn’t make it through a single day.

Gives a bit more context and some of the phrasing just seemed a bit less off-putting than the other version I had read. At the same time, the work felt a little dimished by the fact it was written by an emperor, in the sense that it is easy for a person of the most privilege to talk about doing away with desires, or taking things as they come, seeing death as something to not fear, etc. A difficult aspect of the book is that it's made up of scraps of Aurelius's personal accounts - hence the translations also reflect an incompleteness. Tony Campolo - speaking on Christ - reminded us that Christ never said, "Love the sinner, hate the sin. I picked up both Meditations: A New Translation by Marcus Aurelius and translated by Gregory Hays and On the Shortness of Life by Seneca.