MARCUS AURELIUS: USE YOUR TIME

The Essential Marcus Aurelius

Translated and introduced by Jacob Needleman & John P. Piazza

Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 110 pp., $10

I first came across the writings of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180) in a workout article by Yorkshire bodybuilding and strength champion, Reg Park. He used a quote from Aurelius as inspiration to conquer heavy weights. Turning to the new translation by Messrs. Needleman and Piazza, entry 6.19, it reads: “If something is difficult for you to accomplish, do not then think it impossible for any human being; rather, if it is humanly possible and corresponds to human nature, know that it is attainable by you as well.”

In an introduction, Piazza points out that Aurelius, raised within the philosophy of Stoicism, wasn’t leisurely jotting his musings while reclining in his palace eating grapes. Rather, he started writing his “Meditations” in 167 AD, while “overseeing the military campaigns on the Empire’s northern borders.” Aurelius wrote these thoughts down, “far from his home and family,” in spare moments during battles which continued to the end of his life.

Although history has connected Aurelius to Stoicism, and he was influenced by that philosophy (and despite his references to Epictetus the Stoic), he never in his book names himself a Stoic.

Keeping in mind the culture of brutality in which Aurelius was raised, lived, and ruled, in which people were crucified at the crossroads of downtown Rome, many of the book’s entries show the thoughts of a disarmingly humble and humane realist. They show an emphasis on simplicity and turning away from self-indulgence, being ready for hucksters and tricksters, and, above all, using your time while you are physically alive on Earth.

There are references to equal rights and freedom of speech, refusing to lower oneself to the practice of backstabbing, and respecting humble work as the natural lot of man.

The cautions to use one’s time while you have it are the most striking entries in the book, a series of warnings and wake-up calls:

“ . . . an end to your time here has been marked out, and if you do not use this time for clearing the clouds from your mind, it will be gone, and so will you (2.4).”

“Small indeed is the life which each person lives, and tiny is the corner of the earth where he lives. Small too is even the longest after-glory, which is handed off, as in a relay race, to others who will soon be dead, not having known even themselves, let alone someone who died long ago (3.10).”

“Also, consider how many people, having lived in enmity, suspicion, hatred, and combat -- how many have been laid out as corpses and reduced to ashes. Recall this, and cease your discontent (4.3).”

And perhaps the ultimate entry in this line of thought, “A short life is common to all, yet you avoid and pursue things as though you will live forever. In a little while you, too, will close your eyes, and soon after that another will mourn the person who carried your coffin (10.34).”

There is much else in Aurelius’ book about repaying unkindness with kindness, warnings against behaving like tyrants who “die after exercising their power over the lives of others with an insolent snort (4.48),” and of focusing on self-improvement rather than criticizing the behaviour of others.

Two other central themes which appear throughout Aurelius’ meditations are working to be free of our emotions which imprison us, and the cultivation of inner peace through an awareness of our souls and attention to right behaviour.

Even after more than 1,800 years, many of Aurelius’ entries are startling. His “Meditations” combine to form a potent ancient self-help book, full of contemplations about humility, kindness, and tending to our own business rather than sticking our noses in others’.

Don’t be dissuaded by Aurelius’ warning strain of you-and-the-horse-you-rode-in-on-and-all-those-who-know-you-will-soon-be-gone-and-forgotten; rather, we should see those entries as reminders to not waste our time, to focus on the important things in life, and to return to simplicity.

You’ll find much else in Aurelius’ little book to cheer and inspire you.

Copyright © Eric Bryan