Wisdom of Marcus AureliusEverything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Do every act of your life as if it were your last.

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe.

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too.

Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.

That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.

Marcus Aurelius  was born on April 26, 121, in Italy, and was chosen by Emporer Hadrian to be his eventual successor. In 161, Aurelius took control of the Roman Empire along with his brother Verus. War and disease threatened Rome on all sides. Aurelius held his territory, but was weakened as a ruler after the death of his brother Verus. His son Commodus later became co-ruler in 177, only three years before Aurelius died on March 17, 180.Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek[1] as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement.. It is not clear that he ever intended the writings to be published, so the title Meditations is but one of several commonly assigned to the collection. These writings take the form of quotations varying in length from one sentence to long paragraphs.