Shameless Praise : Meditations (Marcus Aurelius)

Hey there, I'm YonathanJ. This is my very first ''Shameless Praise'' article. Today I'd love to talk about Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius.

''You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strenght.''

Imagine this : you're the most important and powerful man in the world, the emperor of the roman empire. It's the latter half of the second century CE and the invincible empire is on the brink of collapse, by unending wars and deadly plagues, costing the lives of millions of people. Under all that pressure, one man, Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-king, working tirelessly to preserve civilisation from barbarians, from calamity.

While on campaign, Marcus spent what little free time he had writing about life, death, the world, philosophy. These writings, put down on the pages through his years of protecting the empire's borders, became known nowadays as the Meditations, also known as ''Marcus's writings to himself''. Perhaps he wrote these private, personal notes as a way to cope with the horrors of war..

What is notable with Marcus Aurelius is that not only did he love philosophy, he embodied it, as a living example of his beliefs. Rather than indulging in the senseless pleasures that being an emperor provides, Marcus prefered for example to sleep on the ground, and be master of his own body, being content with simple food and being an overall good man. As he wrote himself in Meditations :

''Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.''

Meditations is separated in twelve books, though they were not written that way, as it is actually almost 2000 years old by now, passed to us through time and fortune. Each ''book'' is centered around a theme, the very first book being dedicated to gratitude, where Marcus writes down his joy to have been so blessed with such a privileged upbringing, highlighting the good in all those he knows, how their example made him the man he was.

When I read book one for the first time, I have to admit I was a bit jealous that Marcus had all these honorable, examplary people to teach and guide him in his forming years, playing a big part in how he became such a great man. To have such mentors is truly a privilege.

''from my mother, piety and kindness, and abstinence, not only from evil deeds, but even from evil thoughts''

Marcus was a stoic, and this school of thought is omnipresent in his writings. Advocating to ''live life in accordance to nature'' and seeing people as ''social animals''. Marcus Aurelius held himself to the highest standarts of stoicism, striving for its four virtues : Wisdom, courage, justice, temperance. Indeed being a stoic means being above all a rationnal being, only doing and striving for good, mastering one's emotions, and seeing things for what they are truly.

Meditations is indeed separated in twelve ''books'', each of the books filled with numbered notes of varying lenghts, compiled loosely around common themes. This makes Meditations a great book for quick reading sessions, for people that don't have the time to sit down and read for hours on end. There are also great quality audiobook versions of Meditations online, on youtube. I think it's one of the most accessible philosophy book out there, though it is said to be at times a bit abstract, a bit difficult to understand for more casual readers.

As someone that does a lot of journaling, a lot of simply writing down my thoughts on paper, Meditations is incredibly interesting. Not only because his words were never meant to be published - He wrote only for himself - but also because of the nature of his writings, the certainty, the gratitude, the avant-guarde modernity of his way of thinking, seeing the world through the lense of rationality.

Stoicism is also a school of thought that I really love, to be master of our emotions, master over our desires, to embrace philosophy. To quote Socrates :

''The unexamined life is not worth living''

Reading Marcus's temperate and wise way of thinking is eye-opening, considering he was the most powerful man of his time.

It's inspiring, really, that such a book is how we remember him, two millenias later. From his private, most honest journaling, it's almost poetic. I've read Meditations several times, and listened to its audiobook version as many times, and I've come to the conclusion that it isn't only a ''guide'' to stoicism as some claim, it is so much more. I think simply reading the book with an open mind and reasoning about its ideas is the proper way to enjoy Meditations. In a way, confronting, meditating on Marcus's outlook on life can open us to new perspectives, especially for someone that isn't really used to philosophy.

I consider Meditations by Marcus Aurelius to be a MUST-READ, a timeless masterpiece, a book to read and read again, to leave on your nightstand and go back to in times of hardships, of doubts, of distress. Such is the power of its words, its ideas.

I'll end this with my favourite quotes;

“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly.''

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”

and my very favourite for last :

“If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible — for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.”

thanks you so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed this new type of content, where I praise shamelessly my favourite books and their authors.

Cheers!