24 February 2025
The third book explores the principles that should guide a person. In it, Marcus Aurelius reflects on what can serve as a beacon in life, helping us avoid evil.
1. A person’s ability to think rationally is crucial. Yet, it is often lost before life itself ends.
2. Everything that accompanies nature is beautiful, even if it may not seem so when viewed in isolation. But if we perceive things as part of nature—an immense yet perfect system—then flaws gain meaning and beauty.
3. Art is merely an imitation of nature.
4. Hippocrates, who cured many diseases, fell ill and died.
5. Do not preoccupy yourself with trying to understand the thoughts of others, as it only distracts from your own purpose. Focus on what fate has given to you alone.
6. There should be no idle or accidental thoughts—let alone evil or vain ones. Thoughts must be clear, so that at any moment, you can openly answer the question, "What are you thinking about right now?" Those who achieve this are the best among us, for they are neither tainted by vice nor enslaved by passions.
7. Value praise only from the best—those who are honest and just. Why seek approval from the corrupt, who do not even like themselves?
8. Need nothing. Be resilient and independent.
9. Avoid verbosity; maintain restraint.
10. Choose the best path and steer clear of things that take hold of you and pull you away.
11. Do not consider something beneficial if it forces you toward evil, for then you will spend your life either chasing something or running from it. Instead, follow reason and do what is right.
12. Discard all that is unnecessary, but hold on to what is truly important.
13. Always have the courage to break down the complex into simpler parts to reach the essence of things and clearly see the causes behind them.
14. No one can prevent you from living a virtuous life—except yourself.
15. Abandon empty hopes and help yourself instead.
16. The mark of a worthy person is to love and accept their fate, to embrace what is allotted to them. As for the genius dwelling within, do not stain or drown it with tiresome illusions. Instead, cherish it—let it remain kind, at peace with the divine, never speaking against truth, nor acting against justice.
17. And even if no one believes that you live simply, respectfully, and serenely—do not resent them. Do not stray from the path leading to your life’s purpose. Walk it to the end, arriving pure, calm, and light, having embraced your destiny willingly.