Meditations
The Annotated Edition
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4.8 • 12 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
For both new and longtime readers, Robin Waterfield’s definitive translation and rich annotations offer everything they need to understand one of the most powerful works of practical philosophy ever written.
“A treat (and an eye-opening experience) … If you haven’t read Marcus Aurelius or if you have…you should read this book and then read it again.”―Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of The Daily Stoic
An inexhaustible source of wisdom, Meditations is one of the greatest works of popular philosophy ever written. As Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world, yet he was also an intensely private person with a rich interior life and one of the wisest minds of his generation. He collected his thoughts in notebooks, the entries ranging from one-line aphorisms to essays, from profundity to bitterness, but always with an eye to how one can live with dignity and thrive in an adverse world. This edition offers the definitive translation of this much beloved text. Copious notes from world-renowned classics expert Robin Waterfield enrich the understanding of even the most devoted Stoic, while guiding those new to the text through Marcus Aurelius’ world and the timeless insights he offers.
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.
Customer Reviews
Excellent translation; helpful footnotes
This translation of the Meditations came at the recommendation of Stoic teachers. After reading most of it, I understand why. The language is both elegant and accessible. The footnotes offer Waterfield’s breadth of knowledge of many writers of the ancient world and recent scholarship on the same subject. Highly recommend.