Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)

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It is interesting to learn that people in Rome two thousand years ago were struggling with self-confidence and outside influences.

Thou wilt die soon and thou are not yet simple nor free from perturbations, nor without suspicion of being hurt by external things, nor kindly disposed towards all; nor dost thou yet place wisdom only in acting justly.

Seek out discussions with others that will challenge your beliefs, and always seek first to understand other points of view, not share your opinion. We learn more about our bodies, souls, and minds and how to deal with emotions like anger, anxiety, grief, and so on. Meditations: With Selected Correspondence(2011) is by Robin Hard, with an introduction and commentary by Christopher Gill, professor emeritus of ancient thought at the University of Exeter, and is published by Oxford University Press.

This is arguably a more literal and authoritative translation, with useful notes, more suited perhaps to readers who wish to make a closer study of the text.As I’ve said before, if you’re going to read it, you absolutely have to go with the Gregory Hays translation. Taken as a whole, it's clear the subjects that humans in a large society ponder and worry about have changed very little since Aurelius' time. Some of it was written while he was positioned at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia, because internal notes reveal that the first book was written when he was campaigning against the Quadi on the river Granova (modern-day Hron in Slovakia) and the second book was written at Carnuntum.

The thing you have to understand is that this book is a series of entries some guy made of his, sometimes completely random, thoughts. Under the supervision of a trained rhetor, Marcus would have begun with short exercises before progressing to full-scale practice declamations in which he would have been asked to defend one side or another in imaginary law cases, or to advise a prominent historical figure at a turning point in his career. I had not read a book in quite a while, and a very good friend reignited my desire to read because I saw how passionate they were about books. Using Marcus as an example of greater Stoic philosophy, he found the Stoic ethical philosophy to contain an element of " sour grapes.As you kiss your son good night, says Epictetus, whisper to yourself, 'He may be dead in the morning. Original edition was published in and this unique edition is Reprinted in 2023 with the help of original edition. You could have said of him (as they say of Socrates) that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most people find it hard to abstain from and all too easy to enjoy.

The first translation of Meditations was published nearly two thousand years after it was written, and many scholars assume it was never intended to be shared. Marcus Aurelius used philosophy as we used religion — as a way of constructing a worldview and of ethics and a proper way of living. The meditations are short snippets of advice and insights into the nature of reality and how humans can best navigate their way through life. A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. When plumbing such depths of existential philosophy, having to reread a sentence three or four times just to fathom what's being said inevitably saps energy from the ability to ponder the actual meaning of the text, turning what should be an edifying delight into a frustrating chore.

It is just a different reading experience, one that I (a new, naïve reader) was neither expecting nor wanting. This final quote from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is another affirmation I like to imagine Marcus reading every day before the daily business of ruling his empire. Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages.