100 Great Books (Book 16: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius)

The Sovereign Mind

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Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

The Meditations is a collection of personal notes written by Marcus Aurelius, who ruled the Roman Empire from 161 to 180 CE. The text was written in Greek, probably during military campaigns on the northern frontier, and was never intended for publication. It has no clear structure, no sustained argument, and no effort to explain Stoic philosophy systematically. Instead, it consists of short entries in which Marcus reminds himself how to think about difficulty, other people, death, and his own responsibilities. The work survives as an example of philosophy practiced rather than taught, and it remains widely read because it addresses the gap between knowing what you should do and actually doing it.