Chapter 140 - Meditations
Today’s Chapter is based on the book “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays.
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher, known as one of the Five Good Emperors. He is famous for his philosophical work “Meditations,” which reflects his Stoic beliefs.
Here’s what I learned:
Power of Perception
“We suffer not because something bad happens, but because of how we analyze the situation.”
— Michel de Montaigne
The foundational principle of Marcus Aurelius’ philosophy is that our experience of reality is not determined by events themselves, but by our perception of them. The world is neutral and it is our judgment that labels things as good or bad, harmful or beneficial. This disciple of perception is the first and most crucial step toward tranquility. In fact, Marcus Aurelius reminds us that external events are beyond our control, but our internal reaction is within our control.
As such, it is primordial to practice analyzing every impression that comes our way to prevent irrational or harmful interpretations from taking root. When we master this, we realize that most of what we fear or desire is merely a story that we tell ourselves. The event in itself is powerless, it is our narrative that causes pain or anxiety.
“To the stand-bys above, add this one: always to define whatever it is we perceive—to trace its outline—so we can see what it really is: its substance. Stripped bare. As a whole. Unmodified. And to call it by its name—the thing itself and its components, to which it will eventually return. Nothing is so conducive to spiritual growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Furthermore, this practice of deconstruction of what happens to us allows us to see criticisms not as personal attacks but as words spoken by a fallible human being. The ultimate expression of this power is the realization that we cannot be harmed by anything we do not choose to be harmed by. As Marcus Aurelius once said, “Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been. It can ruin your life only if it ruins your character. Otherwise it cannot harm you —inside or out.”
Closely linked to the discipline of perception is the Stoic doctrine of control. Marcus Aurelius repeatedly draws a stark dividing line between what is “up to us” and what is not. Our opinions, our impulses, our desires, and our aversions are within our control. Everything else—the actions of others, our reputation, our health, our wealth, the past, the future—is not. Much of human suffering, he argues, stems from exhausting ourselves by trying to control the uncontrollable while neglecting the one thing we truly command: our own mind.
This reminds me of what we have learned from Konosuke Matsushita who believed that there is an inextricable link between facing adversity and achieving success both in business and in life. As Matsushita once said, “the great figures of history are those who have been buffeted by adversity and whose dauntless spirit has helped them overcome countless difficulties.”
This belief stands in contrast to the common perception that success is a linear journey free from setbacks. In reality however, adversity is key to progress and innovation. Matsushita believes that challenges are great opportunities to gain wisdom and to improve. As he once said, “We should strive to be the kind of person who learns something with every fall.”
However, it takes resiliency and perseverance in order to face adversities as you may need to fall seven times before you can reach success. Matsushita compares this process to mountain climbing as he believes that life is a series of mountains that we must climb in other to prosper both in business and in life. As he once said, “Just as you have reached the summit of one mountain in your journey and caught your breath, there lies before you another mountain. You trudge upward, and when you gain the next peak, there lies yet another ridge, and then another, endlessly along the path. This is one of the truths of our lives as well.”
As such, Matsushita mentions that it is important to cultivate a strong mindset in order to have the will to continue fighting despite so many adversities. In his opinion, this can be achieved by approaching life as if one was constantly in a sword fight. It is only with this sort of approach that we may have the mental fortitude to survive and thrive when facing challenges that end up in our path toward success.
“Life itself is essentially a fight with a real sword: you take your life in your hands whatever you do. No matter how small the matter, you have to undertake it as if your life depended on it.”
— Konosuke Matsushita
Live in the Present
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking”
— Steve Jobs
Marcus Aurelius is also a believer of focusing on the present moment. By recognizing that everything is transient, such as fame, possessions, and even our existence, frees us from anxiety about the past or future. As he once said, “People who are excited by posthumous fame forget that the people who remember them will soon die too. And those after them in turn. Until their memory, passed from one to another like a candle flame, gutters and goes out.” This lesson from Marcus Aurelius reminds us to avoid the distraction of always worrying about tomorrow and encouraging living by maximizing our brief time.
As Aurelius once said, “Forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone and remember it: Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. The span we live is small—small as the corner of the earth in which we live it. Small as even the greatest renown, passed from mouth to mouth by short-lived stick figures, ignorant alike of themselves and those long dead.”
“Even if you’re going to live three thousand more years, or ten times that, remember: you cannot lose another life than the one you’re living now, or live another one than the one you’re losing. The longest amounts to the same as the shortest. The present is the same for everyone; its loss is the same for everyone; and it should be clear that a brief instant is all that is lost. For you can’t lose either the past or the future; how could you lose what you don’t have?”
— Marcus Aurelius
By consequence, Marcus Aurelius strongly believes in focusing on what’s in front of you rather than worrying about the future. He mentions, “Concentrate every minute like a Roman—like a man—on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods can ask of you.”
This reminds me of Steve Jobs who was convinced that life is too short to not be doing something important and to change the world even if it seems nearly impossible. Jobs once said “Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact—and that is: everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. And the minute you can understand that you can poke life, and if you push in, then something will pop out the other side; that you can change it, you can mold it—that’s maybe the most important thing: to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there, and you’re just going to live in it versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important, and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better.”
More importantly, Jobs explains that it was important to chase your dreams. Life is too short to be wasting time living someone else’s life and to be working in a career that one is not in love with. This is eerily similar to Warren Buffett’s principle of tap dancing to work. As Buffett would say, it is very difficult to succeed in a career that you are not passionate about.
“The only thing one can do is to believe that some of what you follow with your heart will indeed come back to make your life much richer. And it will. And you will gain an ever firmer trust in your instincts and intuition. Don’t be a career. The enemy of most dreams and intuitions, and one of the most dangerous and stifling concepts ever invented by humans, is the “Career.” A career is a concept for how one is supposed to progress through stages during the training for and practicing of your working life. There are some big problems here. First and foremost is the notion that your work is different and separate from the rest of your life. If you are passionate about your life and your work, this can’t be so. They will become more or less one. This is a much better way to live one’s life.”
— Steve Jobs
Beyond the Book
Watch "100 Things Ryan Holiday Learned From Marcus Aurelius' Meditations" on Youtube
Watch " How To Read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (the greatest book ever written)" on Youtube
If you enjoy reading my newsletter, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll be able to keep this newsletter going! Here’s what you get when you upgrade:
Voting on polls: you’ll get to vote on who I should write about next.
Requesting biographies: you can request a biography for me to read and write about next.
Supporting my next book purchase: all payments received will be used to purchase a new biography.