I feel strange criticizing this book because it is historically important and because it was not intended for public consumption. Having learned he wrote these meditations to himself (not intending an audience), this makes sense. At times, it felt like someone just writing down random thoughts. Sometimes I didn’t know what he was referring to. I had trouble following and concentrating. On the other hand, I struggled to read this. I will likely reread in the future and dive deeper into these thoughts. Additionally, a few of the meditations really spoke to me. You see the struggles he encounters and they are not so different than what we struggle with today. On one hand, it’s amazing to see the inner thoughts of an historical figure. With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. In Gregory Hays’s new translation-the first in thirty-five years-Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago.

Marcus’s insights and advice-on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others-have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written.

Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.įew ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D.

Meditations a new translation