Comments on: Manvotional: Selection from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

By: Miguel

Miguel — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:00:33 +0000

I love how Marcus starts his book by honouring all the people that made him into the man he was.

He wrote meditations in his 50s yet he humbly recalls his initial influences since childhood. This excerpt is actually referring to his adoptive father I believe, and he also praises his natural father’s memory from his reputation.

There is a line where he mentions how refreshing and powerful it is to see virtues embodied by someone else – how that’s the best way to appreciate them.

That’s how he saw him.

By: Russell McNeil

Russell McNeil — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:25:26 +0000

I am currently working through all of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius and posting them on a daily basis on the Malaspina Great Books Quotations Blog. Many of these relate directly to the themes discussed here. A link to the meditations currently online are found here:

http://russellmcneil.blogspot.com/search/label/meditations

By: HP Schrei

HP Schrei — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:25:11 +0000

A very readable version of the Meditations is published by Penguin in its Great Ideas Series:

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141018829,00.html?sym=SYN

By: Niall

Niall — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 13:53:10 +0000

Nice. Just as relevant today as it was back in Roman times. As a small project I’ve recntly embarked on putting the complete contents of Marcus Aurelius’ meditations online as a blog. One entry per day, should take a bit under 18 months to complete. You can find it at: http://marcus-aurelius-meditations.blogspot.com/

By: tim colstil

tim colstil — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:41:44 +0000

hey i think the this article is very creative and cool
but it is al little gay

By: James

James — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:30:47 +0000

Excellent post. We need to read more of classical literature and philosophy; it has much to offer us even today. As as classicist and a guy, I’ve always held the Meditations as one of my favorite works. There are plenty of selections that are worth reading. It’s a great book that is made for reading each day, since Aurelius made one entry each day, and they’re usually quite short to read, but give you something to think about. It is quite inspiring to read the words of an emperor who was yet so grounded and despite all his power and prestige was not conceited or arrogant.

Just for general information, Aurelius wrote in Greek, even though he was Roman. The Romans considered Greek more philosophical and academic and, indeed, even sometimes more pleasant a language. What is particularly wonderful about the Meditations is that Aurelius simply kept it as a personal diary of thoughts and never intended it to be published, but it has amazingly survived antiquity to be the third work with the longest period of continuous publishing, after the Bible and the Aeneid.

My favorite quote of Aurelius is from the second section (a particularly excellent part of the book in general): “Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to act with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts.”

By: Edwinek

Edwinek — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:57:33 +0000

Wonderful quote. As a sideline: I wonder whether there is a convertor somewhere on the net that will change this (and so many other texts that have got stuck in the 19th century) in modern English.

By: Matt Grieser

Matt Grieser — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:44:49 +0000

Wayne Key: Marcus Aurelius is translated from Greek. (Aurelius, M., & Hays, G. (2002). Meditations, page ix. New York: Modern Library.)
via wikipedia “Close imitation of Attic was not required because [Marcus Aurelius] wrote in a philosophical context without thought of publication. Galen’s many writings in what he calls ‘the common dialect’ are another excellent example of non-atticizing but highly educated Greek.” Simon Swain, (1996), Hellenism and Empire, page 29. Oxford University Press.

I just read the Hays translation of Meditations, so this was fresh in my mind.

By: Pipps

Pipps — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:46:02 +0000

Stoics rule! :D

By: Wayne Key

Wayne Key — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:29:37 +0000

I first read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations as a teenager. Between that and Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics I learned that thinking serious and long term was an important trait. Bravo for bringing out one of the TRUE classics.

(A note for those of you who haven’t read the older classics. Many of them were translated from Greek or in Aurelius case I assmume from the Latin of his day into Arabic and then were translated into Latin during the Renaissance. Because of the loss of many of the original manuscripts our English translations are often a third or fourth generation translation. This multiple translation makes reading them very challenging and not for the literal minded. Even so they are still very rewarding.)