Marcus Aurelius's Rules for Living a Better Life
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What are the key Stoic virtues that Marcus Aurelius embodied?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world, but he knew that even so, the vast majority of things were outside of his control. He couldn't control what other people did. He couldn't control what other people said. Certainly, even though some emperors tried, couldn't control what other people said about him. But even within these constraints, he tried to be the best person he was capable of being. You know, he's born in the year 121. He comes to power in the year 161 AD. He rules for nearly two decades through all sorts of difficulty, things that we're unfortunately familiar with today, political unrest, floods, issues at the border, a plague, even the Antonine Plague.
And so I find him just an endlessly fascinating model person.
How did Marcus Aurelius handle challenges beyond his control?
And so in today's episode, I want to give you some rules for life from Marcus Aurelius. Practices, strategies, things I've taken from meditations, things I've taken from the biographical information we have about Marcus, things we can guess about Marcus, but real practices for life.
What practical rules for life does Marcus Aurelius offer?
Rules, standards, ways of thinking that we can apply to our actual life. I just, you know, again, you think about the power this guy had.
How did Marcus Aurelius demonstrate leadership during the Antonine Plague?
I love this line from Matthew Arnold. He says, despite getting all of that, Marcus proves himself worthy of it. So how do we do that? I think these rules are a recipe for for at least getting close. Certainly they'll make us better, stronger, more honorable, kinder, more patient, more virtuous, all the things that Marcus strove to be and do. So here are nine stoic rules for better life from the one and only Marcus Aurelius. My favorite story about Marcus Aurelius comes at the depths of the Antonine Plague, which is a horrible pandemic that kills millions of people.
What does Stoic philosophy say about overcoming obstacles?
Rome's economy has been devastated. People are dying in the streets and everyone feels like it can't possibly get better. And what does Marcus Aurelius do? He walks through the imperial palace and begins to mark things for sale. For two months, he sells on the lawn of the great emperor's palace. the jewels and robes and couches, the finery owned by the emperor. He's sending a message. He says, I'm not going to put myself first.
How can we practice self-discipline in our daily lives?
I don't need these fancy things. Not when people are struggling. He says, I'm going to do the little things that make a difference. To me, this is like the CEO who takes a pay cut in a bad economy. This is the athlete who renegotiates their contract so the team can bring on new people. This is the leader who sacrifices and struggles, who puts the people first, not their own comfort and needs first. That's what greatness is like, and that's why I love this story from Marcus Aurelius. You're not stuck. I know you think you are, but what the Stoics wanted you to know is that, yes, one path might be closed, but another remains open, right? The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Marcus Aurelius isn't saying that nothing can ever stop you. He's saying that when you're stopped in one capacity,
What does Marcus Aurelius teach about the importance of essentialism?
there remains other capacities open to you. You always have the opportunity to practice virtue, practice excellence, to change in some form or another based on what's happening. We don't control what happened, we control how we respond. That's what Stoic philosophy is about. So yes, one path can be closed, a door can be shut, but the window remains open. You know, someone gets in your way, someone blocks you, someone prevents you. Sure, that happens. But they can't stop you from being patient. They can't stop you from practicing forgiveness. They can't stop you from going in a different direction, from changing your mind, trying something new, growing because of this, learning because of it. The Stoics say no one prevents us from accommodating, adapting, changing, integrating the experiences, the obstacles that are in our path and turning them into new paths.
That's what the obstacle is the way is.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the key Stoic virtues that Marcus Aurelius embodied?
0:00–1:07
2
How did Marcus Aurelius handle challenges beyond his control?
1:07–1:30
3
What practical rules for life does Marcus Aurelius offer?
1:30–1:41
4
How did Marcus Aurelius demonstrate leadership during the Antonine Plague?
1:41–2:15
5
What does Stoic philosophy say about overcoming obstacles?
2:15–2:40
6
How can we practice self-discipline in our daily lives?
2:40–3:24
7
What does Marcus Aurelius teach about the importance of essentialism?
3:24–4:27
8
What are the three key lessons from Stoic philosophy that we can apply today?
4:27–12:54
Speakers
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