15 Marcus Aurelius Quotes to Start the Day (and What They Mean)

Marcus Aurelius never meant Meditations to be published. It was a private notebook, written by a Roman emperor to remind himself how to live: how to deal with difficult people, how to work when he didn't feel like it, how to stay steady when things went wrong. That's why it reads well first thing. These were notes written to be reread.

The quotes below come from George Long's 1862 translation, which is in the public domain. His English is old-fashioned (plenty of "thou" and "thy"), so each one comes with a short plain-English meaning. Pick one, read it with your morning drink, and ask what it means for today.

On starting the day

1. "In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present: I am rising to the work of a human being." (Book V)
Meaning: you don't have to feel like it. Getting up is the first piece of real work.

2. "Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial." (Book II)
Meaning: expect some friction today. If you're ready for it, it's less likely to knock you off course.

3. "Confine thyself to the present." (Book VII)
Meaning: deal with this hour. Tomorrow's problems aren't today's job.

4. "Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life." (Book VIII)
Meaning: when everything feels like too much, shrink the frame to the next task.

On your thoughts

5. "Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts." (Book V)
Meaning: what you think repeatedly becomes who you are. Choose the morning thought carefully.

6. "If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgement about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgement now." (Book VIII)
Meaning: events don't upset you on their own. Your reading of them does, and you can change that.

7. "The universe is transformation: life is opinion." (Book IV)
Meaning: everything changes, and how your life feels depends largely on how you interpret it.

8. "Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig." (Book VII)
Meaning: what you need for today is already in you. Keep working to reach it.

On action

9. "No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such." (Book X)
Meaning: stop theorising about good character. Act on it today.

10. "Thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last." (Book II)
Meaning: give each task your full attention, without hurry or half-heartedness.

11. "Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it." (Book II)
Meaning: the thing you keep postponing? Today is another chance to start it.

12. "Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly." (Book II)
Meaning: life is short and uncertain. Spend today on what matters.

On other people and setbacks

13. "The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrong doer." (Book VI)
Meaning: when someone behaves badly, the strongest response is not to copy them.

14. "Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it." (Book IV)
Meaning: let the day's pressures hit you without moving you. Staying steady calms things around you too.

15. "Very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life." (Book VII)
Meaning: you probably already have enough. Notice it.

How to use these

Don't try to take in all fifteen at once. Marcus reread his own notes because one idea, returned to often, does more than a hundred skimmed. A simple approach:

• Choose one quote for the week and keep it somewhere you'll see it each morning.
• Read it slowly with your first drink, before the phone.
• Ask one question: what does this mean for today?
• Set a single intention, then get on with the day.

That's the whole of the 5-minute Stoic morning ritual, which I've written about in more detail.

If you'd like these on paper, the Stoic Starter Kit includes twelve printable quote cards, a morning routine and a 30-day challenge. And if you'd like one line to live on your desk, every Stoic Mug Ritual Set comes with a quote card on textured hemp paper, sized to sit by your morning drink.