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Meditations
(2nd Century)
Marcus Aurelius |
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Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius came to power just as Rome's might and dominance began to be challenged from all sides. As a Stoic, however, he refused to be made miserable by the difficulties of life.
Stoicism was a Greek school of thought originating around 300 BC. In simple terms, it taught that submission to the law of the universe was how human beings should live, and emphasised duty, avoidance of pleasure, reason, and fearlessness of death.
A Stoic would also have full responsibility for his actions, independence of mind, and pursue the greater good over their own. The following extract from the Meditations provides a good example of this outlook and the writer's prose:
All things fade into the storied past, and in a little while are shrouded in oblivion. Even to men whose lives were a blaze of glory this comes to pass; as to the rest, the breath is hardly out of them before, in Homer's words, they are 'lost to sight alike and hearsay'.
Marcus Aurelius's life itself bares the statement out; not many now will have cause to remember his skill or otherwise as a leader, but his Meditations, quiet thoughts written by camplight in the midst of campaigns, live on in hearts and minds. Try to imagine a present-day President of the United States being so philosophical in the midst of such crises.
The great worth of the Stoic philosophy is its ability to help put things into perspective; the Meditations is, if you like, an ancient and noble Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. The person who can see the world as it really is also carries the ability to see beyond that world. Yes, we are here and we have a job to do, but there is the feeling that we came from another place, and will eventually go back to it. The ups and downs of life should never dull the basic wonder at our existence in the universe.
This short book is a source of sanity in a mad world. Today's reader will also love the beauty of prose that it one of the few works of genuine 'literature' among self-help classics. Buy a copy and you will enjoy it and make use of it for life.
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| Read the full commentary in 50 Self-Help Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon. |
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50 Self-Help Classics, the book, gives you:
• insightful commentaries on 50 key books.
• 300 pages of life-changing wisdom and advice.
• Expanded features and profiles not
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| " A tremendous resource for anyone seeking a 'bite-sized' look at the philosophies of many self-help legends, including sacred scriptures of different traditions. Because the range and depth of sources are so huge, the cumulative reading effect is amazing. Alternatively, it educates and edifies, affirms and inspires. Often both." |
Stephen R Covey,
author of
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People |
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" Butler-Bowdon has summarized some of the most remarkable thoughts - thoughts with wisdom I must add - that will enlighten and lead the reader to understand the very nature of human nature. It will soon become the 51st self-help classic!" |
Warren Bennis, author of
On Becoming A Leader |
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Winner, 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award (US) |
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Finalist, 2004 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year (US) |
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Sold in 25 countries |
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Translated into 16 languages
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| Tom Butler-Bowdon: |
"This short book is a source of sanity in a mad world."
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| Marcus Aurelius: |
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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was emperor of Rome from 161 AD until his death 19 years later. By the time he came to power, Rome was under threat: constant warring with 'barbarians' on the frontier, disease brought back by soldiers from the fronts, pestilence, and even earthquakes.
Yet despite such circumstances, Marcus Aurelius would after his death come to be idealised by the Romans as the perfect emperor, a genuine philosopher-king who provided the last real nobility of rule before the savagery of his son Commodus's reign and the anarchy of the third century.
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