Customer Reviews

The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)

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This translation is "essential" because it is not a complete translation. The translators' note that some of Aurelius just is not amenable to translation and so pass on doing so. Calling this book "essenital" is making a virtue of this decision. Still, the book is nice and short with a useful intro essay. And, it does contain the basic wiring: do not look to others for approval but seek it within yourself; control what you can and do not worry about what you can not; understand that you only have this moment and commit to being a good person in it. Worth the time.

I carry my Marcus Aurelius with me everywhere. His wisdom is timeless and useful to us all. I am purchasing a few more copies for some friends that I know will appreciate him. If you are looking for the wisdom of the ages...practical, timely wisdom, then Marcus is for you.

This is a great translation of an enduring classic. The Meditations is a lifelong collection of practical wisdom that should be consulted periodically by anyone interested in living a better life.

As I write, the minions of X have just waged a campaign on Wikipedia to revise the facts of one of the best known episodes in American history so its entry will conform to their idol's dazzlingly dumb word-salad version of that event. Elsewhere, Y is closing in on hit number 3,000. And Z, who has long wanted one, just got an afternoon talk show.

No point naming names. They don't matter. If these people didn't vie for our attention --- and our rage, our envy and our amusement --- others would. Life is incessant. And busy. And it's been that way forever.

"Life is all warfare and a stranger's wanderings, and the reward is oblivion," Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) writes. His remedy:

Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbors... To wonder what so-and-so is doing and why, or what he is saying, or thinking, or scheming --- in a word, anything that distracts you from fidelity to the ruler within you --- means a loss of opportunity for some other task.

Marcus Aurelius was not the first to see the world as a play in which the characters chase after shadows, forget they are the leading actors of their own dramas and discover too late --- if at all --- that they have wasted their lives. And he was not the first to know what to do about it. But he was blunt and brief and non-judgmental, and the combination makes him stand out from other philosophers. Almost 2,000 years after his death, you can read him as if he published his book last week.

And not just read Marcus Aurelius. Re-read him. Like all great art, the "Meditations" change as you change --- the book you read in school is different at age 30, and completely fresh again at 60. Lucky is the reader who has one copy all his/her life. What gets underlined is a function of age and life experience; by your dotage, I suspect you'll have marked almost everything.

Marcus Aurelius was, it is said, Rome's last great emperor, but there's nothing regal about him. His father taught him, he writes, that "it is possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such-like show." In his "Meditations," he goes no further. That is, he snatches time to write without once mentioning his primary task --- leading the most powerful army in the world. It's not that he's modest. It's because he's struggling with the challenge we all face: how to be live with dignity.

If you have read Epictetus --- and if you haven't, why not? The version I love is just 88 small pages --- you know that he was an important influence on Marcus Aurelius. And his teachings are echoed in the "Meditations," for Aurelius is very much a Stoic.

Perform every action, he advises, as if it were your last.

If you want a "peaceful and godlike" existence, simplify your life.

"If something is difficult for you to accomplish, do not then think it impossible for any human being; rather, if it is humanly possible and corresponds to human nature, know that it is attainable by you as well."

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth."

He is brutal on the subject of fame and immortality: "Small indeed is the life which each person lives, and tiny is the corner of the earth where he lives. Small too is even the longest after-glory, which is handed off, as in a relay race, to others who will soon be dead, not having known even themselves, let alone someone who died long ago."

And he is merciless on the importance of our little lives: "A short life is common to all, yet you avoid and pursue things as though you will live forever. In a little while you, too, will close your eyes, and soon after that another will mourn the person who carried your coffin."

Sweetness? There's plenty of it here, much of it surprising. He's big on kindness to neighbors. He believes no one does wrong intentionally. He suggests that you take "revenge" on others by not being like them.

Mostly, though, he hammers two points home: Life is change. Our days are but a series of choices. From Thich Nhat Hanh and the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki to Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl --- what smart thinker says different?

Marcus Aurelius says it in 95 pages. Very helpful. You can read him in an hour and then get on with your life.

Wow! I have read and own different daily readers and inspirational texts. But, this book has quickly become my favorite for dispensing timeless wisdom without talking to you like a child or someone who needs a lot of stories to get the point. I can routinely open to any page, read one of the numbered entries, and be inspired all day, or go back and re-read it throughout the day in agreement.

For example, in 8.29:
"Master your impressions by continually saying this to yourself: 'Now it is in my power that within this soul there be no wickedness, appetite, nor any agitation at all. But, seeing things for what they truly are, I will make use of each one according to its real worth' Remember the power that you have been given by Nature"

Replacing "Nature" for "God" works on much of his writing.

Just reading the words "..nor any agitation at all" makes one realize that letting go of the inner agitations is all it takes to find your center again.

The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)

Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is among the most popular works to survive from antiquity. In the introductory 30 pages of The Essential Marcus Aurelius, Jacob Needleman and John Piazza provide the historical setting and background information so that the reader can gain a better understanding of the 12 books (chapters) of Aurelius' meditations. The passages chosen are intended to convey the universal significance of Aurelius' writings for people in all walks of life. The meditations will make the reader pause and think, as they are an inner exploration about problems and questions of life. We find that humans are basically the same, even almost 2,000 years later, for he wrote about situations that many of us ponder. Even an emperor of the huge Roman Empire had to grapple with problems and had questions about life.

-- Alice R. Berntson, New Connexion Journal
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I read like crazy. I have been reading like this since I was 14 and am now 37.
This is one of my favorite books of all time.

Marcus Aurelius book is an absolute classic! it is a tribute to the Greek Stoic thought with its clarity, honesty, and nobility!
Helpful and precious to read when faced with everyday life's people and circumstances and the thought of death.
The translation is fine and simple, the introduction too ( some parts are repeated) and the edition is easy to read and carry. The star that is missing corresponds to the part of the book that has not been translated and was omitted.

The Essential Marcus Aurelius is a short book, broken up into shorter blurbs. It's perfect to pick up anytime and gain a small piece of advice that can go a long way or to sit down and read and ponder...

This book is a lot of short anecdotes about life and living. It is a fast read, but this does not make it trite. On the contrary each short group of sentences really gets at the core of being human and the internal struggles we all go through.