It must have been lonely. Here he was, a lover of poetry and philosophy, of truth and goodness, and what was he surrounded by? By people who loved violence and splendor, fame and money. By people who lusted, who wanted to conquer, who needed to be constantly entertained.
There is a weariness to Marcus Aurelius' Meditations because the world wearied him. He writes of the emptiness of bustling processions, the cruelty of the Colosseum, the superficiality of the things people chased and coveted. Like us, Marcus Aurelius lived in the real world—not Plato's Republic, as he reminded himself. He was surrounded by shallow people, people who missed the point, people who, lacking meaning, distracted themselves with pleasure.
Yet he worked hard not to let this weariness wear on him, not to let it make him angry and mean…or to give in to the temptations of the mob. He got outside. He got up early, while the day was still fresh and young, and Rome seemed fresh and pure. He immersed himself in nature. He cultivated simplicity—not the superficial kind, the kind rooted in first principles. He conversed with the ancients. He cherished great art. He was a towering example of greatness and leadership and wisdom.
As frustrated and disappointed as he sometimes got, he tried not to give up on people or let them, as he wrote, implicate him in their ugliness.
Today, in our own imperial but decaying world, we must follow these same practices. Shallowness and cruelty and stupidity may be rampant, but we must resist it—resist it without bitterness or despair—by being bright lights in a dark time.
Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is not meant to be another book sitting on your shelf, but a constant companion in your own education, a means of resisting the shallowness and chaos of modern life. When you hold our beautiful leatherbound edition in your hands, you're doing what Marcus did: stepping away from the noise, connecting with timeless wisdom, fortifying yourself for the day ahead.
The weight of the leather, the quality of the pages, the craftsmanship—these aren't just aesthetic choices. They're a deliberate counter to our disposable culture (and they'll certainly last longer and hold up to more re-reads than a paperback). The Daily Stoic leatherbound edition of Meditations is the Gregory Hays translation—our favorite for its readability and modern tone. And our edition includes a biography, The Life of Marcus Aurelius by Ryan Holiday.
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