We Owe It All To Them | What Marcus Aurelius Learned From His Mother
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What influence did Marcus Aurelius' mother have on his philosophy?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. We owe it all to them. What put it in motion? What created it? How did it happen that a man found himself holding absolute power and not only wasn't corrupted by it, but stayed actively working on himself, trying to get better, always? Marcus Aurelius, the man we experience in meditations, was a remarkable person, a historical unicorn, an exception that proves the rule. Sure, we can credit Stoicism and philosophy for this, but the true source, the most essential influence in his life, was something much earlier, something he was exposed to in literally his earliest days.
Donald Robertson, Marcus Aurelius' greatest biographer, explained that the whole concept of writing The Meditations is about following through on this thing Marcus remembers his mother saying when he was younger, which is to work on his character to improve his mind and not just his external behavior. something his mother said to him when he was younger. One of the greatest men to ever live, the most enduring work of philosophy that history has ever seen, and it was his mother that inspired it. In his own words and meditations, Marcus thanks his mother for her reverence for the divine, her generosity, her inability not only to do wrong, he said, but even to conceive of doing it in the simple way she lived.
What a beautiful sentiment that is to think about today, on Mother's Day. May we all be blessed with a mother like that, someone who loved us, who taught us, who modeled for us what the good life was. And if you didn't get that from your biological mother, then it's worth remembering Seneca's line about the fact that while we cannot choose our parents, we do get to choose whose children we are. Today, you can think about and celebrate and thank the other maternal influences in your life. Grandmothers, stepmothers and aunts, teachers, neighbors, older sisters, mother-in-laws, our first caregivers, the ones who helped us grow and taught us what we needed to know about life, taught us about the potential always there inside us, showed us what unconditional support and belief looked like.
We can also celebrate the mother of our own children, the one we did get to choose. Today, we celebrate mothers, for all the innumerable gifts they have given us, the wisdom they have bestowed on us, and the greatness they will always inspire in us. And we can give an extra nod to the great Domitia Lucilla,
How did Marcus Aurelius' upbringing shape his Stoic beliefs?
one of history's unsung heroes for the gift she gave Marcus Aurelius, and that he passed on to us.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What influence did Marcus Aurelius' mother have on his philosophy?
0:00–3:07
2
How did Marcus Aurelius' upbringing shape his Stoic beliefs?
3:07–5:52
3
What lessons did Marcus learn from his mother?
5:52–7:44
4
How did Marcus Aurelius' mother exemplify Stoic virtues?
7:44–13:17
5
What role did maternal figures play in shaping Marcus Aurelius?
13:17–15:48
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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