Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library Classics)

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I could find no listing on Goodreads that I'm confident is a fair reflection of what I actually read. It is 50 pages of unbroken and dense text, making it difficult to start and stop, and even harder to continue. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.

It's all that protects your mind from false perceptions-false to your nature, and that of all rational beings. When plumbing such depths of existential philosophy, having to reread a sentence three or four times just to fathom what's being said inevitably saps energy from the ability to ponder the actual meaning of the text, turning what should be an edifying delight into a frustrating chore. Não é um livro para "ler de uma sentada", mas sim um para você sentar e refletir sobre cada passagem dele. The first challenge with reviewing an ancient work such as this is to clarify WHAT is being reviewed.As you kiss your son good night, says Epictetus, whisper to yourself, 'He may be dead in the morning. He was the last of the "Five Good Emperors", and is also considered one of the more important Stoic philosophers. In Gregory Hays's new translation--the first in a generation--Marcus's thoughts speak with a new immediacy: never before have they been so directly and powerfully presented. A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. The translator's introduction agrees, and suggests that Marcus's pessimistic evaluation of human life is "impoverishing.

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius , translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Marcus's insights and advice--on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others--have made the "Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. Nevertheless, Meditations is a cornerstone of the practical philosophy genre and this new translation will make up a vital part of a classic bookshelf.It’s all that protects your mind from false perceptions—false to your nature, and that of all rational beings.

Whether these, and other entries sound life-changing or like entries in a teenager's diary is up to the individual reader, as it should be. For all of the pessimism at times in the work, I find that Meditations is very quotable and that is where Meditations shines. And if you are interested in Stoicism, then you should also take a look at some other books that explore Stoicism, Buddhism, happiness and enjoying life.Roman stoicism, by contract, was a practical discipline—not an abstract system of thought, but an attitude of life. I started a journal, noting the pages that resonated with me so that I could refer back to them later. Marcus has some amazing ideas about the world and I really appreciated his insights, even if there are some things he said that felt super privileged.