English Book MEDITATIONS Marcus Aurelius Dover Thrift Editions Paperback

One of the worlds most famous and influential books
Meditations by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius
(A.D.121-180) incorporates the stoic precepts he used
to cope with his life as a warrior and administrator of an
empire. Ascending to the imperial throne in A.D. 161.
Aurelius found his reign beset by natural disasters and war.
In the wake of these challenges he set down a series of
private reflections outlining a philosophy of commitment to
virtue above pleasure and tranquility above happiness.
Presented here in a specially modernized version of the
classic George Long translation this eloquent and moving
work draws and enriches the tradition of Stoicism which
stressed the search for inner peace and ethical certainty in
an apparently chaotic world. Serenity was to be achieved
by emulating in ones personal conduct the underlying
orderliness and lawfulness of nature. And in the face of
inevitable pain loss and death the suffering at the core
of life-Aurelius counsels stoic detachment from the things
that are beyond ones control and a focus on ones own will
and perception.