Meditations
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- 17,99 €
Publisher Description
Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180, and is considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers. What today we call the "Meditations" take the form of a personal notebook, which wasn’t intended for publication. Aurelius called them “Writings To Myself.” They were written in Greek, although his native tongue was Latin, and were probably composed while he was on military campaigns in central Europe, c. AD 171-175. He died, most likely from the plague or cancer, on a military campaign in present-day Austria. The work is divided into 12 short books.
"Meditations" is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Trained in Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius stopped almost every night to practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with. It is imminently readable and perfectly accessible. You cannot read this book and not come away with a phrase or a line that will be helpful to you the next time you are in trouble.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they do not know how to tell good from evil. But I... have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own." This and other useful affirmations from the second century Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius have been retranslated for the first time in 35 years by Hays, classics professor at the University of Virginia. He includes an introduction that sketches the life of Aurelius and also summarizes the principles of Stoicism.
