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Meditations: A New Translation

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Meditations: A New Translation Paperback – May 6, 2003

by Marcus Aurelius (Author), Gregory Hays (Translator)

4.7 19,811 ratings

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Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.

Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago.

In Gregory Hays’s new translation—the first in thirty-five years—Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented.

With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.

Length

256
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

Modern Library
Publication date

2003
May 6
Dimensions

8.7 x 5.9 x 1.0
inches
ISBN-10

9780812968255
ISBN-13

978-0812968255
Lexile measure

1150L
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From the Publisher

Remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life;meditations;Marcus Aurelius


	MEDITATIONS JOURNAL	MEDITATIONS EBOOK
	Makes the perfect gift for anyone interested in Stoicism! Drawing from the iconic Stoic text Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, this journal will allow readers to deepen their understanding of this philosophy and reflect on how to better their lives.	Discover the eBook edition! Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Here, for our age, is [Marcus’s] great work presented in its entirety, strongly introduced and freshly, elegantly translated.” —Robert Fagles

From the Back Cover

A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus's insights and advice--on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others--have made the "Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.
In Gregory Hays's new translation--the first in a generation--Marcus's thoughts speak with a new immediacy: never before have they been so directly and powerfully presented.

About the Author

Gregory Hays is associate professor of classics at the University of Virginia. He maintains an annotated bibliography of Fulgentius the Mythmaker.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Book 1

Debts and Lessons

1. My grandfather Verus

Character and self-control.

2. My father (from my own memories and

his reputation)

Integrity and manliness.

3. My mother

Her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong but even to conceive of doing it. And the simple way she lived-not in the least like the rich.

4. My great-grandfather

To avoid the public schools, to hire good private teachers, and to accept the resulting costs as money well-spent.

5. My first teacher

Not to support this side or that in chariot-racing, this fighter or that in the games. To put up with discomfort and not make demands. To do my own work, mind my own business, and have no time for slanderers.

6. Diognetus

Not to waste time on nonsense. Not to be taken in by conjurors and hoodoo artists with their talk about incantations and exorcism and all the rest of it. Not to be obsessed with quail-fighting or other crazes like that. To hear unwelcome truths. To practice philosophy, and to study with Baccheius, and then with Tandasis and Marcianus. To write dialogues as a student. To choose the Greek lifestyle-the camp-bed and the cloak.

7. Rusticus

The recognition that I needed to train and discipline my character.

Not to be sidetracked by my interest in rhetoric. Not to write treatises on abstract questions, or deliver moralizing little sermons, or compose imaginary descriptions of The Simple Life or The Man Who Lives Only for Others. To steer clear of oratory, poetry and belles lettres.

Not to dress up just to stroll around the house, or things like that. To write straightforward letters (like the one he sent my mother from Sinuessa). And to behave in a conciliatory way when people who have angered or annoyed us want to make up.

To read attentively-not to be satisfied with "just getting the gist of it." And not to fall for every smooth talker.

And for introducing me to Epictetus's lectures-and loaning me his own copy.

8. Apollonius

Independence and unvarying reliability, and to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos. And to be the same in all circumstances-intense pain, the loss of a child, chronic illness. And to see clearly, from his example, that a man can show both strength and flexibility.

His patience in teaching. And to have seen someone who clearly viewed his expertise and ability as a teacher as the humblest of virtues.

And to have learned how to accept favors from friends without losing your self-respect or appearing ungrateful.

9. Sextus

Kindness.

An example of fatherly authority in the home. What it means to live as nature requires.

Gravity without airs.

To show intuitive sympathy for friends, tolerance to amateurs and sloppy thinkers. His ability to get along with everyone: sharing his company was the highest of compliments, and the opportunity an honor for those around him.

To investigate and analyze, with understanding and logic, the principles we ought to live by.

Not to display anger or other emotions. To be free of passion and yet full of love.

To praise without bombast; to display expertise without pretension.

10. The literary critic Alexander

Not to be constantly correcting people, and in particular not to jump on them whenever they make an error of usage or a grammatical mistake or mispronounce something, but just answer their question or add another example, or debate the issue itself (not their phrasing), or make some other contribution to the discussion-and casually insert the correct expression.

11. Fronto

To recognize the malice, cunning and hypocrisy that power produces, and the peculiar ruthlessness often shown by people from "good families."

12. Alexander the Platonist

Not to be constantly telling people (or writing them) that I'm too busy, unless I really am. Similarly, not to be always ducking my responsibilities to the people around me because of "pressing business."

13. Catulus

Not to shrug off a friend's resentment-even unjustified resentment-but try to put things right.

To show your teachers ungrudging respect (the Domitius and Athenodotus story), and your children unfeigned love.

14. [My brother] Severus

To love my family, truth and justice. It was through him that I encountered Thrasea, Helvidius, Cato, Dion and Brutus, and conceived of a society of equal laws, governed by equality of status and of speech, and of rulers who respect the liberty of their subjects above all else.

And from him as well, to be steady and consistent in valuing philosophy.

And to help others and be eager to share, not to be a pessimist, and never to doubt your friends' affection for you. And that when people incurred his disapproval, they always knew it. And that his friends never had to speculate about his attitude to anything: it was always clear.

15. Maximus

Self-control and resistance to distractions.

Optimism in adversity-especially illness.

A personality in balance: dignity and grace together.

Doing your job without whining.

Other people's certainty that what he said was what he thought, and what he did was done without malice.

Never taken aback or apprehensive. Neither rash nor hesitant-or bewildered, or at a loss. Not obsequious-but not aggressive or paranoid either.

Generosity, charity, honesty.

The sense he gave of staying on the path rather than being kept on it.

That no one could ever have felt patronized by him-or in a position to patronize him.

A sense of humor.

16. My adopted father

Compassion. Unwavering adherence to decisions, once he'd reached them. Indifference to superficial honors. Hard work. Persistence.

Listening to anyone who could contribute to the public good.

His dogged determination to treat people as they deserved.

A sense of when to push and when to back off.

Putting a stop to the pursuit of boys.

His altruism. Not expecting his friends to keep him entertained at dinner or to travel with him (unless they wanted to). And anyone who had to stay behind to take care of something always found him the same when he returned.

His searching questions at meetings. A kind of single-mindedness, almost, never content with first impressions, or breaking off the discussion prematurely.

His constancy to friends-never getting fed up with them, or playing favorites.

Self-reliance, always. And cheerfulness.

And his advance planning (well in advance) and his discreet attention to even minor things.

His restrictions on acclamations-and all attempts to flatter him.

His constant devotion to the empire's needs. His stewardship of the treasury. His willingness to take responsibility-and blame-for both.

His attitude to the gods: no superstitiousness. And his attitude to men: no demagoguery, no currying favor, no pandering. Always sober, always steady, and never vulgar or a prey to fads.

The way he handled the material comforts that fortune had supplied him in such abundance-without arrogance and without apology. If they were there, he took advantage of them. If not, he didn't miss them.

No one ever called him glib, or shameless, or pedantic. They saw him for what he was: a man tested by life, accomplished, unswayed by flattery, qualified to govern both himself and them.

His respect for people who practiced philosophy-at least, those who were sincere about it. But without denigrating the others-or listening to them.

His ability to feel at ease with people-and put them at their ease, without being pushy.

His willingness to take adequate care of himself. Not a hypochondriac or obsessed with his appearance, but not ignoring things either. With the result that he hardly ever needed medical attention, or drugs or any sort of salve or ointment.

This, in particular: his willingness to yield the floor to experts-in oratory, law, psychology, whatever-and to support them energetically, so that each of them could fulfil his potential.

That he respected tradition without needing to constantly congratulate himself for Safeguarding Our Traditional Values.

Not prone to go off on tangents, or pulled in all directions, but sticking with the same old places and the same old things.

The way he could have one of his migraines and then go right back to what he was doing-fresh and at the top of his game.

That he had so few secrets-only state secrets, in fact, and not all that many of those.

The way he kept public actions within reasonable bounds-games, building projects, distributions of money and so on-because he looked to what needed doing and not the credit to be gained from doing it.

No bathing at strange hours, no self-indulgent building projects, no concern for food, or the cut and color of his clothes, or having attractive slaves. (The robe from his farm at Lorium, most of the things at Lanuvium, the way he accepted the customs agent's apology at Tusculum, etc.)

He never exhibited rudeness, lost control of himself, or turned violent. No one ever saw him sweat. Everything was to be approached logically and with due consideration, in a calm and orderly fashion but decisively, and with no loose ends.

You could have said of him (as they say of Socrates) that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most people find it hard to abstain from and all too easy to enjoy. Strength, perseverance, self-control in both areas: the mark of a soul in readiness-indomitable.

(Maximus's illness.)

17. The Gods

That I had good grandparents, a good mother and father, a good sister, good teachers, good servants, relatives, friends-almost without exception. And that I never lost control of myself with any of them, although I had it in me to do that, and I might have, easily. But thanks to the gods, I was never put in that position, and so escaped the test.

That I wasn't raised by my grandfather's girlfriend for longer than I was. That I didn't lose my virginity too early, and didn't enter adulthood until it was time-put it off, even.

That I had someone-as a ruler and as a father-who could keep me from being arrogant and make me realize that even at court you can live without a troop of bodyguards, and gorgeous clothes, lamps, sculpture-the whole charade. That you can behave almost like an ordinary person without seeming slovenly or careless as a ruler or when carrying out official obligations.

That I had the kind of brother I did. One whose character challenged me to improve my own. One whose love and affection enriched my life.

That my children weren't born stupid or physically deformed.

That I wasn't more talented in rhetoric or poetry, or other areas. If I'd felt that I was making better progress I might never have given them up.

That I conferred on the people who brought me up the honors they seemed to want early on, instead of putting them off (since they were still young) with the hope that I'd do it later.

That I knew Apollonius, and Rusticus, and Maximus.

That I saw was shown clearly and often what it would be like to live as nature requires. The gods did all they could-through their gifts, their help, their inspiration-to ensure that I could live as nature demands. And if I've failed, it's no one's fault but mine. Because I didn't pay attention to what they told me-to what they taught me, practically, step by step.

That my body has held out, especially considering the life I've led.

That I never laid a finger on Benedicta or on Theodotus. And that even later, when I was overcome by passion, I recovered from it.

That even though I was often upset with Rusticus I never did anything I would have regretted later.

That even though she died young, at least my mother spent her last years with me.

That whenever I felt like helping someone who was short of money, or otherwise in need, I never had to be told that I had no resources to do it with. And that I was never put in that position myself-of having to take something from someone else.

That I have the wife I do: obedient, loving, humble.

That children had competent teachers.

Remedies granted through dreams-when I was coughing blood, for instance, and having fits of dizziness. And the one at Caieta.

That when I became interested in philosophy I didn't fall into the hands of charlatans, and didn't get bogged down in writing treatises, or become absorbed by logic-chopping, or preoccupied with physics.

All things for which "we need the help of fortune and the gods."

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0812968255
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library; First American PB Edition (May 6, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780812968255
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0812968255
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1150L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.66 x 5.91 x 0.98 inches

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William J. Bahr

Stoicism: OK, just sock it to me?

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2023

Verified Purchase

This review will likely be somewhat different from most of the other comments about this “new” translation of philosopher-king Marcus Aurelius’ classic “Meditations.”

First, Wikipedia mentions a dozen different English translations, with Hays’ being written in 2002, so, while well done, it’s not necessarily “today” new.

Second, the book does a great job of describing Stoicism but doesn’t really get into any validation of the philosophy itself, leaving the reader on his own about the value of Aurelius’ comments about how to live life. Here is some of what the translator/editor says: Stoicism is a concept derived from the Greek for “painted porch,” where the Stoicism-originating philosopher Zeno was said to have taught at the Agora marketplace in ancient Athens. Stoicism is one of the four major schools of philosophic thought established in the Greek period: Stoicism (Zeno), Epicureanism (Epicurus), Cynicism (Diogenes), and Skepticism (Pyrrho). Seneca the Younger, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius are philosophers who continued the stoic tradition into the Roman period. Stoicism says that virtue is the way to achieve eudemonia ("happiness" or the highest human good) through an ethical way of life devoted to reason. It provides an emotional resilience to misfortune, especially through its calling much of what happens in life as fate, about which humans can do little, so why complain?

As for validation, Stoicism has several modern philosophers criticizing it as tantamount to determinism (no free will), a way to avoid trying hard to change the world, and a way to deaden the pain in moments of loss. Yes, there is great truth in the goal of living life according to reason. Still, there is also value in not always suppressing emotions (or psychosomatic responses to previously made value judgments) as psychologists would advise.

In this respect, I was intrigued by what happened (outside the parameters of Aurelius’ commentary) with his Nero-like son, Commodus. Commodus reigned from 177 (jointly until Aurelius' death in 180) and then another twelve years by himself until his assassination by his wrestling partner in 192 AD at age 31 (at the end of the Pax Romana). Commodus had little interest in administration, leaving it to others who irked Rome's senators by increasing their taxes. He did not continue the frequent warfare known during his father’s reign. While peaceful, Commodus’ rule was known for its abundant intrigues, reversion to dictatorial rule, and creation of his deific personality cult with him fashioned as a new Hercules and/or Romulus. He performed as a gladiator, as loosely portrayed in the movie “Gladiator.” Some historians thought he was not naturally wicked but guileless and brought to his actions through cowardice as a slave to his companions. But was his rejection of Stoicism at least partially the result of his upbringing by Marcus? Consider Marcus’ comment in Book Eleven, #34: “As you kiss your son good night, says Epictetus, whisper to yourself, ‘He may be dead in the morning.’” Is this any way to develop a love for one’s son, or is it a way to stifle it in trying to avoid the pain of future loss (so, since I made sure it won’t hurt, just go ahead and sock it to me)?

As regards the stoic-like “Serenity Prayer” of modern philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr (or his student Winnifred Crane Wygal), consider the pithy challenge to have the wisdom to know the difference between what can and cannot be changed. One will read long and hard throughout Aurelius’ twelve books (many of which dwell upon mortality) of the self-pep-talk “Meditations” to find any sure-fire way to know or even consider the difference. Nevertheless, Aurelius does a great job in commenting on the value of moral character (seeking the truth, deciding what is right, and courageously acting accordingly).

Speaking of moral character and Stoicism, George Washington is said to have absorbed Stoicism from time spent with his brother’s inlaws, the Fairfaxes of Belvoir. Of special note was Washington’s fascination with the stoic character of the noble Roman Senator Cato the Younger in Addison’s play “Cato, a Tragedy,” about the republican martyr Cato’s contention against the dictator Julius Caesar. There’s also the stoic-like “call of duty” example from the virtuous early Roman consul Cincinnatus. As well, in Washington’s youth, he was said to have owned an English outline copy of the principle dialogues of the stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger.

Bottom-line and my commentary aside, Marcus Aurelius’ book in this translation is highly recommended to be read as a classic “Great Book” from one of history’s most notable warrior philosopher-kings.

Of possible interest to those interested in George Washington as a warrior philosopher-definitely-not-wanting-to-be-king, check out the following book detailing the importance of character in securing life, liberty, and the "pursuit of happiness": George Washington’s Liberty Key: Mount Vernon’s Bastille Key – the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul , a best-seller at Mount Vernon.

89 people found this helpful

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Vagabond of Letters

Best Translation of the Meditations.

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2012

Verified Purchase

First, the book: it is standard paperback perfectbound. Nothing special, but not exceptionally bad. I believe the hardcover is also perfectbound (they should call it "lousybound") instead of sewn; and why would I buy a hardcover, if the binding is not sewn? It won't lay open flat, which makes it even harder to read than a paperback! For $8.00, cheaper than some others, this translation is by far the best on the market.

Hays is faithful to the Greek (sometimes overliteral, rarely overfree), more so than other translations. Hays manages to transmit more of the style and mood of Aurelius' actual writing than any other translation by an order of magnitude: this can be a blessing or a curse.

However much I demand that my Bibles be literally/formally translated to carry over as much as possible even of the order and form of the God-breathed words (I can't read Hebrew or Aramaic), it's not something I desire in literature, for which, being uninspired (except artistically), the actual words and idioms used generally have no great value, the value instead being in the sense of the text. (I think Hofstadter's Godel Escher Bach is an exception to this, and can't imagine that it can be translated, as so much of the meaning of the book depends on form and peculiarities of the English language.)

St Jerome had much the same opinion, stating, I believe in an epistle to St Augustine while defending his (debatable) choice of translating his Vulgate from the Jews' modern Hebrew (which had already entered in on the process of eliminating prophecies of Christ, leaving us with gems such as, "like a lion my hands and feet", which, with different pointing, reads, "they have pierced my hands and feet" - the first one doesn't even make sense!) instead of their ancient Septuagint Greek: "When translating the sacred scriptures, I attempt to give Greek and Hebrew a clothing of Latin, retaining even the word order so far as it is possible [that is, formal translation: in the process giving rise to "Ecclesiastical Latin", as the Vulgate is no more Ciceronian or Virgilian Latin than Spanish is] but when translating the works of men, I endeavor to translate the sense of what is being said, not only the words [that is, dynamic translation]".

De Selincourt's translations of Livy are some of the best examples of the latter. Livy is far from inspired: I care little about the form of the words he used, but the sense. De Selicourt's translation has me laughing aloud, much as I imagine the original readers would have, at the constant ineptitude and malice of the tribunes, always pushing for "agrarian reform" as a rallying-cry. Ancient historians did not set out to write just a history, but also a work of great literature: mere modern history was accounted unworthy of the pen, and was for the annals of the priests, to be recorded in lists of names, locations, and dates. Names, locations, and dates do not alone a history make: the ancients understood this. That's why ancient history, from Livy to Plutarch*** to Suetonius to Xenophon to Tacitus to Polybius, is uniformly excellent, and why modern history is uniformly bad in comparison. The best of modern history, the transitional and seminal Decline and Fall of Gibbon, is the closest one comes, but it is colored and ruined by a deep hatred of all things clerical, Catholic, and Christian, which absolutely permeates the work, and a subtext of love for the barbaric Mohammedans, whom he viewed as "rational" in comparison. At least he got his bias towards the degenerate Byzantine empire and its ossified Orthodox religion right.

***Speaking of Plutarch, one has two choices: the modern and decent translations of Penguin in horrible editions, issued in half a dozen books with many lives overlapping (i.e. Alexander is in two books, Caesar in three) in a series that is still incomplete, with the lives presented out of order and Plutarch's comparisons either omitted entirely or presented after one of the lives mentioned, whereas the life being compared to is not even in the same volume, let alone back to back: or Modern Library's old translation from the 1600s (updated in the 1800s to remove the most archaic verbiage and most of the archaic pronouns) that reads poorly (even worse than Dickens, and I hate Dickens), as a stereotyped "classic", but is presented in two volumes in correct order with the comparisons, much as Plutarch intended. One needs both editions, so one can read the Penguin translations in the order given in Modern Library, and then read Modern Library's printing of Plutarch's comparisons of lives. (If one had to choose one or the other, the trade-off for readability in the Penguin is too great, compared to the poor presentation: one should choose the Modern Library.)

That brings me to the best of the "truly modern" historians, Steven Runciman; his work is terrible compared to the ancients, and stellar compared to the rest of the moderns, who are more suited to writing technical specifications or books of law than anything else. Lest anyone think the moderns are more truthful or less biased, Runciman's obsessive fawning over that same decrepit Orthodox religion and overweening sympathy for the degenerate Byzantines (and even a hint of sympathy for those enemies of all civilization, the paynim foe, the Mohammedan, who had encroached on the lands of Christendom for four centuries and were slaughtering and enslaving pilgrims to the Holy Land to attempt to prop up their failing empire by trying to acquire new sources of dhimmis wherever they could be found) should dispel that notion - only sourcing has been improved. But even with bibliographies, one can choose and weight a work towards those extremely biased sources, such as Anna Komnena's report of the Crusade (which Runciman relies heavily upon). Warren Carroll is likely the best historian of our generation, with Jaroslav Pelikan close behind; but Jaroslav Pelikan, unlike Carroll and Toynbee, did not do "surveys of history", but focused on a very specific topic. Much as all of the professions, except for the noble philosophers and theologians (and even those, to a degree) have become so cripplingly overspecialized as to be facetious to non-specialists.

Some philosophy (notably Aristotle) requires the translation to be stiff if one is to follow Aristotle's thought, and not the translator's interpretation of his philosophy (much like the Bible), which can never be trusted today. It reminds me of the old Bollingen Plato which I had to use when studying philosophy, before the much better Hackett editions and the new single-volume one were released, where all of the introductions gushed, "Plato was so smart - almost as smart as we (Hume, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger) are!" (blasphemy - Aristotle had more philosophical sense when he grunted to take a shite than Hume did in thirty years of writing ponderous tomes of trash).

For other translations, "The Emperor's Handbook" is lousy, IMO. It's too loose. I cut my teeth on Staniforth's translation, which is archaic, overly flowery, and too loose at the same time. I think the Hammond translation is the second best (after Hays) out there.

I also prefer Hays immensely because he leaves "logos" untranslated (instead of translating it as a range of words, improperly injecting interpretation in to the text, as no one option, such as "reason", works in all places in the Meditations), and, reading the book as a Catholic, I am often amazed at the insights towards Christ (the Logos) that are revealed in the jarring disconnect between the English translation and the transliteration of "logos" - I often think that Emperor Marcus Aurelius was writing about Christ; whether by accident of language, coincidence of Hellenistic philosophy, divine inspiration, or because the Christian ethos had already so permeated the Empire by the time of the writing of the Meditations, I know not. Nevertheless, Hays' translation can be used in places nearly as a Christian devotional instead of reading like Enlightenment garbage crossed with paleo-paganism and new ageism, as the Staniforth translation reads (always capitalizing "Reason", "the Whole [as in, 'return to "the Whole" at death']"). When reading Greek philosophy, "logos" is such a common word it loses its power and distinction as essentially the Incarnate Word, appearing constantly in contexts where Christ never would because of the nature of truth, being seen as in a mirror darkly - not so in the Meditations, this translation has shown, wherever "logos" is, one can insert "the Logos" and get an even greater sense of Aurelius' text - I am tempted to say a sensius plenor.

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James

Modern Stoic must have book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023

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Within the realm of philosophy, especially for those drawn to stoic philosophy, 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius, as translated by Gregory Hayes, is an essential work. This version stands as a testament to the art of translation and scholarly dedication. It eloquently brings to life the wisdom of the Roman Emperor, providing readers with a profound insight into the core principles of Stoicism.
Gregory Hayes' translation is a masterpiece in its own right, capturing the essence of Marcus Aurelius's original thoughts with remarkable clarity and precision. The prose is elegant, making it accessible to both seasoned philosophers and newcomers to Stoicism.
'Meditations' serves as a timeless guide for introspection, self-improvement, and resilience. It delves into the human condition, the nature of virtue, and the impermanence of life. As a 40-year-old man named Matthew, I found this work particularly resonant, as it speaks to the complexities of life and the pursuit of wisdom.
In conclusion, Gregory Hayes' translation of 'Meditations' is a bridge across centuries, connecting modern readers with the profound wisdom of Marcus Aurelius. It is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore the depths of Stoic philosophy and enhance their understanding of life's philosophical underpinnings.

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Leonardo

Bellissimo

Reviewed in Italy on November 26, 2023

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Questo libro si è rivelato un alleato prezioso nella mia vita quotidiana. La sua capacità di condensare conoscenze fondamentali in brevi, ma potenti, segmenti lo rende uno strumento di apprendimento rapido e accessibile. Le informazioni contenute sono pratiche e applicabili, contribuendo significativamente al mio bagaglio di conoscenze utili. La chiarezza espositiva dell'autore facilita l'assimilazione di concetti complessi, trasformando la lettura in un'esperienza gratificante. Un compagno ideale per chiunque cerchi una fonte di saggezza pratica per migliorare la propria vita quotidiana.

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Jill

Wow

Reviewed in Germany on December 2, 2023

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That this book was written nearly 2000 years ago is a massive eye opener. The human race hasn't moved on very far in the last 2 millenia as this could have been written this year. The words of Marcus Aurelius resonate a depth of wisdom, lived experience and leadership rarely seen in our times. The forward by Gregory Hays really helps to set the scene and provide important context.

arturo nasser

Facilidad lectura

Reviewed in Mexico on October 9, 2023

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Es lonque deseaba

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Michel Guevara

Encuadernaciòn flexible

Reviewed in Mexico on October 29, 2023

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Me encantó! La traducción es buena y el libro es flexible sin temor a que se fuerce el lomo.

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Marisa

Muito bom

Reviewed in Spain on November 18, 2023

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Tudo ok! Livro novo, em bom estado.

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