Marcus Aurelius - Tumblr Posts

οὔτε γὰρ ἀνθρώπινόν τι ἄνευ τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ θεῖα συναναφορᾶς εὖ πράξεις οὔτ̓ ἔμπαλιν. No action in the human context will succeed without reference to the divine, or vice versa.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

İntikam almanın en iyi yolu İntikam alınacak kişiye benzememektir

Whether anything in life is significant or not?

We are often taught, "You are insignificant in the grand scheme of universe. Nothing matters. You will die anyway". If I accept this assertion, then how will I know what things are significant in my life? If everything is insignificant then why do I live and why do I exist? Why make any effort at all?

If everything is insignificant then will you ever defend yourself in an argument? Will you ever act in self defense? Will you ever protect your family and tribe? If yes, then how are these things insignificant? It means that those things ARE significant. That those things do matter. That you do matter in the grand scheme of universe.

Is this an arbitrary decision between which things are significant and which are not? If my father is significant to me, is a stranger man also as significant to me as my father? How so? 1. The stranger man could be father to a child; 2. The stranger man had emotions and personality; 3. The stranger man has a life history and destiny; 4. Do unto others what you would want to be done to yourself. In this way, even a stranger man in streets is as significant to me as my father. If a stranger is valuable to me then his life does matter in the grand scheme of things.

Life is significant. Life is meaningful. What is 'meaning'? It is anything that helps me learn something, improve myself or unlearn something that no longer serves me. Is self improvement meaningful? Is it significant in the grand scheme of universe? It is significant to me.

For so long I am here alive on earth, I will deal with my inner conscience and emotions. Doing self improvement makes me feel right. It makes me feel worthwhile. It gives me self respect. I feel like I belong to a team of "the good citizens of the universe".

I want to make a good impression on others. Doing self improvement, being authentic, socializing with my real face, doing work, in every day of my life I have to engage in a lot of things that make up my life. I want to leave a good impression on others.

I believe that anyone behaves in "good way" only because of knowledge of consequence. If a so called evil act did not have any consequence then anyone would do it without any second thought. It is not just about legal or social or financial consequences, sometimes people worry about karmic consequences. For eg, if I abuse someone, karma will come back at me. In other cases, wasting your time, energy, resources are the consequences of engaging in useless arguments.

Nobody likes being around "negative" people. If I go around saying nothing matters life is meaningless, I will make no friends. It does not imply that I am a people pleaser. It means that such nihilistic attitude towards life gets on your nerves. For eg, why go to school or college or job if nothing matters? Why do marriage or have kids or take care of your parents if nothing matters? Why have doctors or scientists or service workers if nothing matters? Why cook or clean or eat or sleep if nothing matters? It means that life does matter. We have to have some meaning in life to even survive.

Does this mean that I am not Nihilist? I am Nihilistic. I believe that life is meaningful. And I also believe that life is meaningless. It is a balance of meaningful and meaningless. Everything matters yet nothing matters.

So I personally chose to apply nihilism in mindless situations. Like gossiping, partying, watching movies or porn or listening to songs. These are the things which I find to be meaningless in my life. 1. I dont make money from them; 2. They do not give me happiness; 3. They dont make me feel worthwhile. They dont make me feel like I am doing something right with my life. 4. I have been to "that" side of the world. The dating, smoking, drinking or the so called "cool" side of the world. It looks rebellious from a distance. It looks like they are living out their shadows. They are free in the ways I was not. They were having fun, enjoying life, giving a middle finger to society.

Until I got even closer to the scene and realized that the whole cool vibe thing is just a glamorous smoke. Those people were hiding massive insecurities and terrible character dysfunction behind the mask. The difference is that those people chose to deal with their insecurities and flaws with mind numbing distractions. I finally decided to walk a path o self development and meaning.

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

— Marcus Aurelius

It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinions than our own.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

-Marcus Aurelius

Abundance mindset.

Unconditional love.

Giving is living.

“Mortal man, you have lived as a citizen in this great city. What matter if that life is five or fifty years? The laws of the city apply equally to all. So what is there to fear in your dismissal from the city? This is no tyrant or corrupt judge who dismisses you, but the very same nature that brought you in.”

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."

—Marcus Aurelius

“Settle on the type of person you want to be and stick to it, whether alone or in company.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“Give yourself a gift, the present moment.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“Each day provides its own gifts.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”

—Marcus Aurelius

“The best answer to anger is silence.”

—Marcus Aurelius