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
The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our thoughts shape our identity and character.
This quote by Marcus Aurelius emphasizes the profound impact of our thoughts on our inner being. Just as fabric can be dyed a certain color, our souls and characters are influenced and colored by the nature of our thoughts, highlighting the importance of nurturing positive and constructive thinking to develop a virtuous and meaningful life.
Themes
ThoughtsSoulCharacterPhilosophyMindset
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-improvement.
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
There is a moment in the history of every nation, when . . . the perceptive powers reach their ripeness and have not yet become microscopic: so that man, at that instant . . . with his feet still planted on the immense forces of night, converses by his eyes and brain with solar and stellar creation.
Marsilio FicinoRead
The world rarely shrieks its meaning at you. It whispers, in private languages and obscure modalities, in arcane and quixotic imagery, through symbol systems in which every element has multiple meanings determined by juxtaposition.
Gregory MaguireRead
And then he drew a dial from his poke, And looking with lack-lustre eye, Says very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock: Thus we may see', Quoth he, 'how the world wags: 'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine, And after one hour more 'twill be eleven; And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe, And then from hour to hour we rot and rot.
William ShakespeareRead
Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; and on the other hand, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it.
BoethiusRead
Every man is a borrower and a mimic, life is theatrical and literature a quotation.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
One loves ultimately one's desires, not the thing desired.
Friedrich NietzscheRead