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A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself and a mean man, by one lower than himself. The one produces aspiration the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.

Marcus Aurelius

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Marcus Aurelius
Philosopher
Politician
Roman Emperor
Writer
The Eternal City
Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus
Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Marcus Annius Verus
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Idea
Produces
Inspirational
Aspiration
Ideas
Lower
Self
Compare
Estimates
Mean
Noble
Compares
Way
Ambition
Aspires
Men
Produce
Vulgar
Higher
Aspire

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Unhappy am I because this has happened to me.- Not so, but happy am I, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future.
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Let it judge that nothing is either bad or good which can happen equally to the bad man and the good. For that which happens equally to him who lives contrary to nature and to him who lives according to nature, is neither according to nature nor contrary to nature.
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How easy it is to repel and release every impression which is troublesome and immediately to be tranquil.
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Praise adds nothing to beauty--makes it neither better nor worse.
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Everything that happens either happens in such a way as you are formed by nature to bear it, or as you are not formed by nature to bear it.
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When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstance revert at once to yourself and don't lose the rhythm more than you can help. You'll have a better grasp of harmony if you keep going back to it.
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Receive without conceit, release without struggle.
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I am an old man and have had many worries, but most have never come to pass.
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It is a sin to persue pleasure as a good and to avoid pain as a evil.
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Live not one's life as though one had a thousand years, but live each day as the last.
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Light may earth's crumbling sand be laid on thee, that dogs may dig thy bones up easily
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Observe and contemplate on the hidden things of life: how a man's seed is but the beginning, it takes others to bring it to fruition. Think how food undergoes such changes to produce health and strength. See the power of these hidden things which, like the wind cannot been seen, but its effects can be.
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Body. Soul. Mind. Sensations: the body. Desires: the soul. Reasoning: the mind.
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The universe is in change, life is an opinion.
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Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.
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Let thine occupations be few, saith the sage, if thou wouldst lead a tranquil life.
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Hast thou reason? I have. Why then dost not thou use it? For if this does its own work, what else dost thou wish?
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As for life, it is a battle and a sojourning in a strange land but the fame that comes after is oblivion.
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And in the case of superior things like stars, we discover a kind of unity in separation. The higher we rise on the scale of being, the easier it is to discern a connection even among things separated by vast distances.
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If any man should conceive certain things as being really good, such as prudence, temperance, justice, fortitude, he would not after having first conceived these endure to listen to anything which should not be in harmony with what is really good.
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