“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Write your response
Take five minutes with it. No account needed to start, and nobody else can read what you write.
Respond to this passageWhere this comes from
Marcus Aurelius’ private notebooks, written for no audience but himself.
Marcus Aurelius. Roman emperor from 161 to 180 CE, and the last of the emperors remembered as the "Five Good Emperors". The notebooks we call Meditations were written in Greek, largely on campaign, and were never meant to be read by anyone else — which is why they read as instruction to himself rather than argument aimed at a reader.
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“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.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations