Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD) was Roman emperor from 161AD to 180AD. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors.

752. Pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments.

753. Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.

754. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.

755. I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

756. Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”

757. When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.

610. The first step: Don’t be anxious. Nature controls it all.

611. The second step: Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix your eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy.

612. Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go。”

613. Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

614. Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time.

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

386. Each day provides its own gifts.

387. If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.

388. Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.

389. Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.

390. Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.

391. Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.

392. Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.

393. Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as on what you have already.

394. Death, like birth, is a secret of Nature.

226. When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

227. You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

228. It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

229. The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.

230. The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.

231. The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

232. Poverty is the mother of crime.

233. He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.