Written nearly 2000 years ago, ‘Meditations’ offers classic wisdom for the modern day

A boy, adopted, grows up and as a young man is unexpectedly elevated to the pinnacle of leadership. This was Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations, penned during his final decade as a reluctant Roman emperor, may just be history’s first and most influential self-help book, written not for the public, but as personal code, a dialog with himself.

He had wanted to become a philosopher, but fate called him to the imperial throne instead.

Meditations was never intended as a historical record yet it offers insights that still resonate. In the spring of 2023, I read the Gregory Hayes translation.

As a younger reader, my own look into self-help reading was brief, mainly touching on popular titles from the 80s. Illusions by Richard Bach was simplistic, but everybody in high school loved its allegorical take. Passages by Gail Sheehy, recommended to me after I graduated from college, was insightful. Like many, I read (in my case, didn’t retain much from) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and then more recently, Atomic Habits, which I did enjoy.

Here’s what I took away from this straightforward work:

Stoicism, as practiced by Aurelius, can be viewed through today’s lens as something along the lines of “emotional maturity.” He outlines three Stoic principles:

Perception. Use absolute objectivity and dispassion, resisting reactions driven by false urgency or emotional propaganda.

Action. Engage with others and the world cooperatively. Seeking to obstruct or resent others is unnatural.

Will. Accept what lies beyond our control, focusing instead on what we can influence: our responses and attitudes.

The Meditations are Aurelius writing to himself, obsessively, over time, repeating ideas and maxims. The end result is not really a diary or journal, but more a set of introspective thoughts he wanted to capture in notebook form over years… advice he’d picked up from mentors or via general observation:

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own — not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions.

Here he’s preaching preparation and diplomacy, demonstrating that even 2000 years ago, there was nothing new under the sun.

Aurelius didn’t set out to write for the masses 20 centuries onward. Yet in his private reflections, he produced one of the most enduring texts on living well.

A recent survey made me, and many others, smile: How often do men think of the Roman Empire? Answer: More than you might expect. Men think about legions, aqueducts and empire. A lot. While this social media trend sparked widespread amusement, it points to something deeper — grand human achievement never loses its grip on people’s imagination.

This fascination with ancient Rome includes Meditations wisdom that still applies:

Have agency. Now that you are old, possess agency fully. “Be a man. Don’t be weak.” Take responsibility for your actions and choices.

Stop putting things off. In my own case, “time is running out on you to be the best writer you can become,” so become it. The time to act is today.

Focus inward. Accept reality for what it is rather than wasting energy complaining. Connect with what is real and lasting in ourselves and in life. This leads to meaning and purpose.

Master perception. See things for what they are, resisting emotional propaganda. It is not the action that somebody takes against you that harms you — it is your opinion of that action.

Trust the future. Despite all ephemeral worries, anxieties, concerns — embrace and trust the future. The world is fueled by change.

Cooperate. Hell may be others, but we’re all in this life together. Finding ways to work cooperatively is a noble pursuit. It doesn’t mean you have to agree or surrender. Stop fighting against that which you resist and if necessary, defeat it using the rules.

Be happy. You are completely in control of your own happiness. To grow you must learn to let go. “Free yourself from the tyranny of external voices, so as to not die bitter.”

The present, Aurelius writes, is minuscule, transitory, insignificant. Face the future with confidence and purpose.

The wisdom of this reluctant Roman emperor continues today in a book that will never be out of style.