Meditations

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is one of the most remarkable books ever written: a private philosophical journal kept by a Roman Emperor not for publication but as a daily practice of Stoic self-examination. Divided into twelve books, the Meditations cover themes of duty, mortality, impermanence, the irrelevance of fame, the importance of reason, and the cultivation of equanimity in the face of suffering and injustice. Aurelius writes to himself with demanding honesty, repeatedly returning to the same essential exercises, to act justly, accept what cannot be changed, focus on what lies within his control, and remember that all things pass. Nearly two millennia after they were written, these reflections remain one of the most direct and practical introductions to Stoic philosophy available.