Quotes by Marcus Aurelius Antonius

“The art of living is more like that of wrestling than of dancing; the main thing is to stand firm and be ready for an unseen attack.”

“The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.”

“Opinion is the main thing which does harm or good in the world. It is our false opinions that ruin us.”

“When you are outraged by somebody’s impudence, ask yourself at once, “Can the world exist without impudent people?” It cannot; so do not ask for impossibilities.”

“Nowhere can a man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”

“Ah! dearest Jesus, Holy Child,Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,Within my heart, that it may beA quiet chamber kept for thee.”

“Somehow it seems like its you and me against the world.”

“Consider Christmas—could Satan in his most malignant mood have devised a worse combination of graft plus bunkum than the system whereby several hundred million people get a billion or so gifts for which they have no use, and some thousands of shop clerks die of exhaustion while selling them, and every other child in the Western world is made ill from overeating—all in the name of the lowly Jesus?”

“Men are much more apt to agree in what they do than in what they think.”

“My child, it will be better for you if you accept my decisions without complaint. Do not ask me to defend my actions or to explain why one person is favored and another seems slighted. The answers to these questions go far beyond your comprehension.”

“Men are the only animals who devote themselves assiduously to making one another unhappy.”

“The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found their Lamb; the wise men saw the light of a star and found their Wisdom.”

“If you have no power to prevail over someone, leave it to God.”

“If the Giver gives you a hill to plough, don’t level it.”