Marcus Aurelius quotes worth knowing, with sources

By Elliot Byrne · Published 4 April 2026

Genuine quotes from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, with book and section references so you can check them, what each one means in practice, and how to spot the popular quotes he never wrote.

Marcus Aurelius was Roman emperor from AD 161 to 180. During years of war and plague, he kept a private notebook of reminders to himself, written in Greek. We now call it the Meditations. It was never meant for publication, which is part of its appeal: it's honest, repetitive and practical.

Below are genuine lines, with book and section numbers so you can check them. Quotations are from George Long's 19th-century translation, which is free online, except where noted. Modern translations word them differently.

On other people

• "Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial." (2.1) Not cynicism: he goes on to say such people act from ignorance, and that we're made to work together.
• "The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer." (6.6) Your character is the one thing an insult can't take unless you let it.
• "I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others." (12.4)

On judgement and the mind

• "The universe is change; our life is what our opinions make it." (4.3)
• "If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgement about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgement now." (8.47) The core Stoic idea, also found in Epictetus.
• "Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts." (5.16) What you repeatedly think about shapes who you become.
• "Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig." (7.59)

On obstacles

• "The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." (5.20, in Gregory Hays's modern translation) In context, he's talking about difficult people: if someone blocks one action, that becomes a chance to practise another virtue, such as patience.
• "Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it." (4.49)

On time and death

• "Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good." (4.17)
• "Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly." (2.11) Not morbid: a reminder not to postpone what matters.

On action

• "No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such." (10.16)
• "Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye." (6.30) An emperor warning himself not to be corrupted by power.

Quotes he probably didn't write

Some of the most shared "Marcus Aurelius" lines aren't in the Meditations in that form:

• "You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength." A modern paraphrase. The idea is Stoic, but the wording isn't his.
• "Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been..." Widely shared, but not found in the Meditations.

If a quote has no book and section number, search a free translation for a key phrase before sharing it.

How do you use these quotes?

Marcus wrote these to himself, to reread when life was hard. Do the same: pick one, write it somewhere visible, and think about where it applies this week. Better still, read a whole book of the Meditations. Most are short, and the context adds depth no single quote can.

Sources and further reading

• Project Gutenberg: Meditations (George Long translation)
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Stoicism
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Marcus Aurelius

Facts checked on 20 October 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.

Chris Adeyemi Research Editor

Chris is a freelance writer and editor covering a wide range of topics with a focus on accuracy and depth.

Last updated: 2026-04-25 · Fact-checked by editorial team