Marcus Aurelius – Meditations book review

In a nutshell (303 pages), this is almost seen as the Stoics ‘bible’. This book makes it on almost everyone’s ‘must-read’ lists, and with good reason. The title was given to the book and is not the title created by the author because this was never meant to be published. This was literally Aurelius’ meditations that he would write in his tent after a day of battle or in his home.

What I got out of it

This is a book filled with brilliant advice from a man who was, at the time, possibly the most powerful man in the world. Despite this, he would write down his thoughts on struggling to get out of bed, and stay humble, amongst more serious topics. The weight of his life/world really adds to the words, and this book, thoughtfully read, will help you live a better life.

What was difficult

As I mentioned, this was never meant to be published. Quite a bit of the book is sort of ‘navel-gazing’. The first part is a lot of just Marcus listing people he knows, and how they have affected his life. Though this information could be used for future reading suggestions. For better or worse, it’s not always a very interesting read.

Recommendation

The ‘must-read’ lists are right. This is a book that shouldn’t be missed. Just know that there is no need to study every inch of the book. And likely as not, note taking won’t be necessary. The parts that will be the most important for you personally will jump off the page at you. The brilliance is that different lines will hit you differently at different stages of your life, making this a book worth revisiting often.