People seek retreats in the country, by the sea, in the mountains — but you can retire into yourself whenever you choose.
People seek retreats for themselves in the country, by the sea, in the mountains... but it is in your power whenever you choose to retire into yourself.
Philosophers
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), last of Rome's Five Good Emperors, wrote his Meditations in wartime camps. This private Stoic journal on inner freedom under pressure is still read by leaders and therapists worldwide.
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Marcus Aurelius's Other Quotes
Everything depends on your judgment, and that judgment rests with you.
Begin each day by telling yourself: today I shall meet with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
Related Quotes
The unexamined life is not worth living.
-- Socrates
Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.
-- Laozi
It is easy to vanquish bandits in the mountains; it is hard to vanquish the bandits in one's heart.
-- Wang Yangming
A sunao (open) mind sees the truth of things without being trapped by preconceptions.
-- Kōnosuke Matsushita
All art is erotic.
-- Gustav Klimt