Meditations Paperback – September 27, 2019

I was influenced to read this book after seeing a lot of people recommend it and how influential the book was in changing their life. I read this version and a couple of other versions at the same time to get a better perspective on the book.Throughout the book there is a plethora of information and wisdom. The words and advice within the book is food for the soul. I was inspired, motivated and learnt lot on life, pain, intelligence and life in general.Though Aurelius himself never intended to publish his work since the work is mostly his observations, perceptions and ideas that he lusted down in his notebook to remind himself of lessons he considered beneficial to himself. The book is divided into twelve books which contain his words on life, death, knowledge as well as perplexing issues like thee nature and purpose of man, philosophy and religion as well as personal development of an individual.Some parts of the book may seem a little gloomy and melancholy especially the constant reminders on death and shortness of life. But otherwise the book is a mine of information.This is a book you have to read again and again so you can adopt the lessons and incorporate them unto your life.

Love it or hate it, you'll always learn something from this book

Maria Aurelius wrote densely but substantively on the principles for how to love a good life.I found practical wisdom in the meditations that I could immediately employ in my personal life. Some of the terminology used presented a challenge for fully understanding some passages since I could find no definitions for those terms using the reference materials available to me on my Kindle.

Nice to read a couple of paragraphs and think on them. Wisdom of old.

I've long appreciated the Stoics, but hadn't ever gotten around to reading this classic. Some truth is universal across cultures and centuries, and Aurelius' gaze is steady, even-tempered and wise. I was inspired when he “recordeth what and of whom, whether Parents, Friends or Masters; by their good examples, or good advice and counsel, he had learned.” He tells us to be humble, and “whensoever though wilt rejoice thyself, think and meditate upon those good parts and especial gifts, which thou hast observed in any of them that live with thee.” I actively did this in letters to my mentors, wife and parents - a gift for them, and also for myself.

In summary, the unfortunate reality is that a good idea conveyed poorly is a poor idea in the end.Let's start with the good stuff, as I like to do.Just so you know, Marcus Aurelius is known as the last great emperor of Ancient Rome. As I'm an Ancient Rome fanatic, reading his work seemed like a sort of intellectual necessity. I mean, given the chance to read the words and thoughts of someone long dead over 2,000 years, who ruled such a place at such a time? Think of the implications! Isn't that exactly what makes writing so amazing to begin with? The chance to cross the very barrier of time and live in the moment with those who existed so long ago? Maybe it's just me, but I find it awesome to think about.So anyway, I was excited to start reading, and at first, this book seemed promising. In brief, Meditations is basically an instruction book on how to live a great life by being a great and respectful person. In a word, Stoicism. Treat people with respect, let your actions speak for themselves, avoid vices of thought such as prejudice and idleness, and just generally try to be a man (or woman) of virtue and discipline. I can only imagine that in Marcus' time, this was a revolutionary philosophy, considering the widespread wars and slavery that ran amok in that age. However, what was most fascinating to me was just how relevant such teachings were to this very day. Marcus' Meditations could be easily and readily applied to any individual walking around in the modern age, and doing so would improve the lives of many by an alarming degree.Now, I say this because I agree with most of what Marcus' wrote. Unbeknownst to me until readings these works, I'd been "following" Stoicism for a good decade now, and in truth, most good people do, too. Meditations is, I believe, just putting into words those common things that all good people eventually come to realize: that happiness is easy to obtain when you live a virtuous life. And that right there is where Meditations fails.This book is not revolutionary, I hate to say it. Marcus did not invent any of the ideas presented in his book, which he freely admits by saying things such as "I learned from father this, from my mother that," which any halfway decent and smart person does anyway. Human beings learn from their surroundings now, then, and until the end of time, and the only thing Marcus can boast is that he was a) fortunate enough to have good mentors, b) smart enough to learn from them, c) wise enough to jot them all down in a book, and finally d) lucky enough to have his book survive to the digital age. Reading Meditations might be rather insightful for anyone who didn't grow up with good guidance, but I'm a firm believer that good people are everywhere, if only one looks for them, and were Meditations to have been lost when Ancient Rome fell, there would still be a great many people unknowingly "practicing" Stoicism to this day.So now let's get to the bad part, or why I only gave this book 3 stars. Although I feel the idea of living a virtuous life is a 5-star concept, and the fact that I can so easily agree with a long-dead ancient emperor is astoundingly fascinating, the truth is that this book wasn't well written.The majority of Meditations is simply a bullet list of good practices in paragraph form. Marcus drones on "think well of others, do not judge, avoid idleness," without extending much effort to explain why. There's no compare and contrast with the opposite points of view, little dwelling on why doing these particular things will enrich one's life. He says they will, but doesn't often dive into the meat of it all. The few times he does, for example when he speaks of why it's important to live in the now, are absolutely riveting and absorbed me to no end. Unfortunately, these moments were few and far between, and the majority of the books makes for a dull read that goes in one ear and out the other, which results in me forgetting most of it.As I said in the beginning, the unfortunate reality is that a good idea conveyed poorly is a poor idea in the end.You see, I can't recommend this book to anyone who needs to read it. Due to the nature of this book's dry and mostly face-value delivery of information, the only people who'd be able to absorb this book's teachings would have to agree with the writer from the start, or at least that's my impression. I couldn't recommend this book to people I feel could really benefit from it because they'd be lost in a heartbeat, having no frame of reference to tie all these things together. From their view, it'd just be a long rant by some old dead guy telling them what to do.So yeah, 3-stars. Although the message is a good one, Meditations is a short book of preaching to the choir.

It is the thoughts and advice from a famous Roman Emperor.His advice applies today as well as in his day.Especially if you are the ruler of an Empire!

Excellent read and very enlightening. I love how the words and thoughts from someone who loves so long ago are still very applicable to this period. Will certainly reference often and read again