I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others.
Marcus AureliusRead
Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the futility of trying to change others while advocating for personal authenticity.
Marcus Aurelius reflects on the importance of individual choices and the inevitability of human behavior remaining constant, regardless of external influences. By expressing the notion that we should act according to our will, the quote speaks to the existential struggle between self-identity and the surrounding world's indifference to our personal turmoil and efforts to enforce change upon it.
Themes
IndividualityAuthenticityHuman BehaviorChangeFutility
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech highlighting personal choices despite societal pressure.
More from Marcus Aurelius
All quotes βYou have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
Marcus AureliusRead
Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.
Marcus AureliusRead
Vex not thy spirit at the course of things; they heed not thy vexation. How ludicrous and outlandish is astonishment at anything that may happen in life.
Marcus AureliusRead
You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you. Things can't shape our decisions by themselves.
Marcus AureliusRead
A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions.
Marcus AureliusRead
Similar quotes
Pippin: I didn't think it would end this way._x000D_ Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... And then you see it._x000D_ Pippin: What? Gandalf?... See what?_x000D_ Gandalf: White shores... and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise._x000D_ Pippin: Well, that isn't so bad._x000D_ Gandalf: No... No it isn't.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.
Jane JacobsRead
Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.
Albert SchweitzerRead
If it's true that every seven years each cell in your body dies and is replaced, then I have truly inherited my life from a dead man; and the misdeeds of those times have been forgiven, and are buried with his bones.
Neil GaimanRead
No single thing abides; but all things flow. Fragment to fragment clings - the things thus grow Until we know them and name them. By degrees They melt, and are no more the things we know.
LucretiusRead
The difference between theism and nontheism is not whether one does or does not believe in God. . . Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold: if we just do the right things, someone will appreciate us and take care of us. . . Nontheism is relaxing with the ambiguity and uncertainty of the present moment without reaching for anything to protect ourselves.
Pema ChodronRead