This week I decided to re-visit Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. Philosophy is something that I dive in every now and then as it grounds me amidst the noise of daily life, reminding me that clarity often comes not from adding more, but from subtracting what is unnecessary. This book is not a regular self help book, in fact it wasn’t written to publish in the first place, it’s more towards Aurelius’s personal manual or notes scribbled in a tent between battles.
Before we start with the book, let’s give some space to the author, Marcus Aurelius. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born in 121 CE. He was handpicked by Emperor Antoninus Pius as his successor, and inherited the throne in 161 CE. He wasn’t interested in ruling, so he ascended reluctantly and took it as a responsibility. During this reign, there was constant warfare along the Germanic frontiers, devastating plagues that killed millions, and internal political pressures. He faced them all and during these turbulent times, and simultaneously, he penned his Meditations, which was never intended for publication. His writings give us a peek into the mind of a reluctant emperor who found in Stoic philosophy not an escape from responsibility, but the strength to bear it with grace.
And this is the main reason why I like reading the book. It feels more honest than most philosophical texts. There’s no pretense, no attempt to impress an audience, just a powerful man wrestling with his own weaknesses and trying to figure out how to live well under the most overwhelming circumstances.
His way of presenting his philosophical nuances is raw, unlike what we see in Epictetus’s systematic lectures and Seneca’s polished letters to Lucilius, which is rich with elegant prose. However, Marcus’s thoughts come to us exactly as they occur to him, he is just thinking on paper, and I like the approach as it shows us how his mind was working through problems in real time, without the editorial push of course.
Power and Philosophy: A Roman Emperor’s Inner Dialogue with Stoicism
His very first book (chapters by the way are referred to “books” in Aurelius’s Meditations) is full of gratitude to people who shaped his character, for instance, he claims that he acquired his grandfather’s gentleness, his mother’s religious devotion without fanaticism, and his adoptive father’s ability to endure criticism without bitterness. I found a similar streak of thanking people in Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she spoke of the people who “rainbow” our lives.
Books Two and Three establish what I consider the cornerstone of practical philosophy, which is, radical present-moment awareness combined with fierce acceptance of mortality. Instead of fearing or thinking about the eventual death, he advocates,
“Perform every action as if it were your last”.
It’s accepting whatever comes before and working on it rather than wasting time on thinking why it happened or what else could have been.
Books Four through Six develop the “inner fortress” strategy, perhaps the most sophisticated approach to resilience ever articulated. Marcus describes how the mind can turn inward and focus on understanding basic truths. This isn’t about avoiding or escaping problems, instead, it’s about gaining clear insight into the main ideas that help us make sense of things. He writes,
“Brief, fundamental precepts can purge the soul and bring tranquility”.
He suggests that if our mind is trained well, we can turn problems or difficulties into something good or helpful. Just like a fire grows bigger and hotter when we add more fuel, facing challenges can make us stronger or better if we handle them the right way.
Books Seven through Nine talks about how to maintain virtue while dealing with other people’s nonsense. Marcus lived in a world of court intrigue, military subordinates, and political rivals, much like what we face today, a complicated organization with various people and challenges. He suggests looking at what drives peoples’ behavior. According to him, people act badly because they’re confused about what’s actually good or valuable, not because they’re inherently evil.
“They are led by what they conceive as good”, he writes.
This isn’t excuse-making, it’s strategic understanding.
Books Ten through Twelve synthesize these insights into a coherent life philosophy. Marcus presents what might be the most practical approach to finding meaning, which are:
- focus completely on the present moment
- fulfill your role in the larger system
- maintain your character regardless of external circumstances, and
- accept whatever comes with grace.
Instead of seeing life as not having any built-in purpose, or relying on religion to give us meaning, Marcus believes that meaning comes naturally when we understand and accept our part within the bigger picture or system. In other words, when we realize how we fit into the world and do our role well, life feels meaningful.
Takeaway
Meditations stands alone among philosophical works because it wasn’t written for us, it was written by an emperor who wasn’t setting out to impress or instruct the world, rather he was simply trying to survive the weight of leadership and the fragility of human life.
The book is a dialogue he was having with himself, and so the raw honesty is what makes the book so enduring. The simple and unpretentious tone, speaks to us across centuries, and reminds us that wisdom doesn’t always come from grand teachings, but from the quiet act of facing life with honesty. It surely deserves to be read at least once, because I’m certain you’ll find yourself returning to it again in the future.
