Stirring reflections on the human condition from a warrior and emperor provide a fascinating glimpse into the mind and personality of a highly principled Roman of the 2nd century. Recognizing that suffering is at the core of life, he counsels stoic detachment in the face of inevitable pain, loss and death.
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Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin
Original Language: Latin
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
120 of 123 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The style is direct and unpretentious. The message is simple but extraordinarily powerful: life is short, the past and the future are inaccessible, pain and pleasure have no meaning, but inside each one of us there is a ruling faculty that is touched only by itself. Only that which makes us better capable of confronting our condition with resolution and courage can be said to be good, and only that which makes us worse and more unsatisfied can be said to be bad. The only thing that is of any importance is our own private quest for perfection, which no external power can ever destroy. Marcus Aurelius delivers many insightful and inspirational observations about human nature and the human condition, and he makes an excellent rational argument for seeking the good and for acting modestly and continently. I cannot think or a more satifying and moving work, and it is all the more poignant because it was written by a man who wielded almost absolute power and lived surrounded by the luxury, yet managed to keep things in perspective and to occupy himself only with what truly matters. One sentence captures perfectly the spirit of his writings: "Where a man can live, there he can also live well." An extraordinary testimony of wisdom and fortitude.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
My first exposure to Marcus Aurelius was "Silence of the Lambs" (when Hanibal Lector quotes Aurelius to Clarice). I was intrigued. After reading Meditations, I was even more intrigued, and started buying copies for my friends. I have read Nietzche, Plato, Sartre. But this book tells it like it IS. Aurelius did not shy away from discussing topics we find too embarrassing today: from death to sex, perversity to honesty. This small volume is PACKED with life-giving, refreshing wisdom. And the price??? An unbelievable value.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I found this book so powerful, I was moved to memorize large parts of it.
Each paragraph, while following a theme of the section, is completely relevent in itself.
The book can be picked up and read from any page and any paragraph, and the user will need no context to the previous paragraph, and will find each paragraph sufficient unto itself.
The book accomplishes this by driving, in pure and unadulterated form and words, the main theme quickly and directly to the reader.
Accerpt from memory:
"Let it be thy earnest and Incessant Care as a Roman and Countryman to do whatever it is that thou are about with true and unfeigned gravity, natural effection, freedom and a sense of justice. As for all the other cares and imaginations, how shalt thou ease thy mind of them ? Which thou shalt do, if though shall go about every action as though it were thy last, free from all vanity and self love....."
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I love Marcus. He is noble, sensitive, and trying his best to live right despite being emperor and stuck leading an army near the Danube. A great soul, a friend, someone who understands all you have suffered. Indispensable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By ronald
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Very easy to read, full of very interesting thoughts and ideas; Surprising how it still applies to today’s time and current events
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first read the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius as teen over 35 years ago, thought it was interesting and thought-provoking...and then moved on, as teenagers are wont to do, to other, newer things. Re-reading the Meditations as a 50-something woman with much more life experience behind me gives me a new perspective and many more ways to apply these ideas to my life. You know it's worth paying attention, when the personal, journal-style musings of an ancient Roman emperor strike home, and resonate with, the mind and heart of an ordinary woman living in 21st Century America. The introduction is short, and well worth reading for it's clear explanations of the man, his times, and background: also, what Stoicism actually is, and is not (surprising for me, who foolishly thought she already knew) Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of the most incredible works that I have read. It's is interesting to hear wisdom that applies even today from someone who lived so long ago. My only complaint is that the translation could have been better. Some of the thoughts run on and on and on making this a difficult read sometimes.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This edition of Marcus Aurelius' 'Meditations' is an excellent rendition of what may be the most profound book of insight meditation ever written. It is an updating of George Long's venerable 1862 translation, with long sentences untangled and thee's and thou's modernized to you's . At first I found it a little dry and underemphatic, but as I continued reading, I became thoroughly engaged by its clarity and precision. As a literal reading, the Dover edition is a lot more readable than Loeb's Haines translation, and more direct than Staniforth's Penguin edition. And at this price, you almost can't afford not to have it. 'Meditations' really can help you be a better person.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
More of a reference
As part of the Dover Thrift Editions, this is a very affordable look into Stoic philosophy and insight into one of the emperors of the Roman Empire. Read more
Published on July 16, 2006 by Jeffrey Leeper
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing original
This is not the best translation. The Walter J. Black,Inc. 1944 Classic Club Edition is better, but either way it is just Marcus Aurelius trying to remind himself (over and over... Read more
Published on June 21, 2003 by "pose21"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Predecessor of all How-To Handbooks
Marcus Aurelius is truly the pioneer in writing the first How-To book in history. His chapterized memoirs gives the reader to individually divide each insert and analyase it. Read more
Published on August 25, 2001 by "iranican"
3.0 out of 5 stars
Meditations' hopeless view is profoundly unsatisfying.
This second-century book of advice reflects its stoic deistic/atheist tradition. In a word, his goal is to encourage the reader toward good works and inner peace disregarding... Read more
Published on October 22, 1998
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