Confine yourself to the present.
Marcus Aurelius (121–180) was a Roman emperor and the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors. His Meditations began as private notes, written in Greek during military campaigns and never meant for publication — which gives them a tone rarely found elsewhere in ancient literature. He wrote them largely as reminders to himself.
About this theme: Time
Time is the one theme here where every author writes from the same position — none of them had more of it than they had. Seneca devoted an essay to it, and his central claim is uncomfortable: we are not given a short life, we spend it in a way that makes it seem short.
More by Marcus Aurelius
- You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
- The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
- Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
- Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself.
- The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
More on Time
- Lost time is never found again.— Benjamin Franklin
- The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.— Chinese Proverb
- It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.— Seneca
- The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.— Cicero
- The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.— Nikola Tesla