Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was an interesting man. He was the emperor of the Roman Empire for almost 20 years. Yet he spent most of the 20 years outside of Rome, fighting the barbarians in central and south-eastern Europe. While he was busy ruling and defending the empire, he wrote a journal, admonishing himself on self-mastery and self-improvement. The journal became the book “Meditations”. He wrote more like a philosopher than a general or emperor. There are few, if any, leaders like him throughout history.

He said of his belief in the gods:“... have not seen my own soul either, and yet I honour it. So it is with the gods too: from my every experience of their power time after time I am certain that they exist, and I revere them.”

Reasons that he should not be affected by other people: If people are wrong, it is clearly out of ignorance and not their wish. You yourself have many faults. Many things are done as part of a larger plan. Human life is a mere fragment of time. It is not their actions which trouble us - but our judgements of them. The greater grief comes from the consequent anger and pain, rather than the original cause. Kindness is invincible. It is madness to expect bad men to do no wrong.

He is really a wise man and a good model. He reminds me of mountains like the HuaShan. It is so big, solid and self-sufficient that it is unmovable. There is little that other people can do to shake it.