"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." ~ 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." ~ 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 object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Think of all the years passed by in which you said to yourself "I'll do it tomorrow," and how the gods have again and again granted you periods of grace of which you have not availed yourself. It is time to realize that you are a member of the Universe, that you are born of Nature itself, and to know that a limit has been set to your time. Use every moment wisely, to perceive your inner refulgence, or 'twill be gone and nevermore within your reach." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Do not be wise in words - be wise in deeds." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Give yourself a gift: the present moment." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?" ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Our anger and annoyance are more detrimental to us than the things themselves which anger or annoy us." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice?" ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Both happiness and unhappiness depend on perception" ~ Marcus Aurelius
"The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before his moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Always bear this in mind, that very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary?'" ~ Marcus Aurelius
"I'm going to be meeting with people today who talk too much - people who are selfish, egotistical, ungrateful. But I won't be surprised or disturbed, for I can't imagine a world without such people." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Live your life as if you are ready to say goodbye to it at any moment, as if the time left for you were some pleasant surprise." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"What we do in life ripples in eternity." ~ Marcus Aurelius
"Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours." ~ Marcus Aurelius