Masters of Habit: Rituals, Lessons, and Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

On asking for help…Don't be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you've been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?

On living a good life…Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible.

Quotes from Marcus Aurelius

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

Aurelius believed that philosophy wasn’t merely something to think about, but that it should also be practiced.

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.

Today, Aurelius is perhaps best known for his collection of essays called Meditations. Although we don’t know many details about Marcus' day-to-day life, Meditations offers a glimpse into his mind, his habits, and his approach to life. The very act of writing Meditations, which took him at least 10 years, is evidence to his commitment to habit, con... See more

On taking action…It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

On fulfilling your duty…Everything, a horse, a vine, is created for some duty. For what task, then, were you yourself created? A man's true delight is to do the things he was made for.

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…