Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Meditations, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Philosophy, The Mind, and Living Well
Relationships and The City
Nature and the Gods
Mortality and Dying Well
Summary
Analysis
3. People always wish they could get away to the country or the ocean or the mountains. But to Marcus, that’s silly: it’s entirely possible to “get away” by going within. The soul is the most peaceful place there is, constantly available for a moment of renewal. After going inwards, a person can quickly return, ready to face the world.
The mind is a person’s most important “getaway” because it’s always available. Marcus thinks that people should retreat here often in order to help them face life’s events.
Themes
If you’re upset about people’s misbehavior, Marcus says, consider that rational beings exist for one another’s benefit, and that everybody dies eventually. Then just stay quiet. If fate bothers you, remember that it’s due to either God or atoms. If it’s your reputation, remember how soon everyone is forgotten. No matter what, “the back roads of your self” are a refuge. Disturbance only comes from within.
By taking refuge in the mind, a person can be reminded of their rational nature, which they share with other human beings, and which will eventually come to an end in death. Death and fate are either random or controlled by the divine. Either way, a person should find peace in philosophy.
Themes
7. If you choose not to be harmed, you won’t feel harmed. And if you don’t feel harmed, then you haven’t been.
According to Stoicism, a person can only really be harmed by their own mind. Thus, no matter what happens to them externally, they can’t be hurt by it unless they choose to be.
Themes
8. Something can only ruin your life if it ruins your character.
Building off of his last point, Marcus suggests that something is only ruinous if it destroys a person’s ability to live philosophically.
Themes
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12. Someone should always be ready to reconsider their position. However, changing one’s position should only be based on a conviction of what’s right—not on what’s popular.
A person’s mind should be their own—capable of persuasion, but not easily swayed.
Themes
19. It makes no sense to desire fame, because those who remember you posthumously will soon die out, too. And even if your memory was immortal, what good would that do you, either in this life or the next?
Fame should be kept in perspective—by definition, human memory cannot last.
Themes
21. After they die, buried bodies decompose; similarly, souls in the air eventually diffuse into fire and are absorbed into the source, the logos.
Stoicism held that human beings consist of substance and logos; the latter gets reabsorbed back into the universal logos.
Themes
24. For a peaceful life, it’s best to do fewer things, and to do them better. According to Marcus, most things we say and do are inessential. Whatever you’re doing, ask yourself if it’s necessary. Also get rid of unnecessary assumptions, because unnecessary actions flow from them.
Part of living a good life involves determining what’s really essential and focusing on that. This includes thoughts, since thoughts lead to actions.
Themes
32. In all ages, people have done the same kinds of things—marrying, having children, going to war, partying, working, complaining, and falling in love. And in every age, people’s lives vanish. They soon return to the elements that formed them.
Throughout history, human life doesn’t really change. The same kinds of things happen, and they always come to an end, with people’s elements being reabsorbed back into the universe.
Themes
39. Nothing that happens in another person’s mind can harm you—or anything that happens in the world around you. Harm is found in one’s capacity to see harm. If you stop judging that something bad has occurred, you’ll be fine. What happens in anyone’s life isn’t inherently good or bad.
Marcus reiterates his view that external things, especially others’ thoughts, can’t really harm a person; only a person’s reactions—their judgments, or their determinations that what’s happened is good or bad—are harmful.
Themes
45. Life isn’t random; everything is logically connected, harmoniously ordered—“an astonishing concordance.”
If a person keeps in mind the “concordance” of all things, refusing to see events as “unfortunate,” they can react to things rationally and remain unharmed by them. Above all, outside events can’t hinder a person’s ability to practice virtues, which is what they’re naturally inclined to do. Virtues spring from the mind and not from outside influences.
Themes
49a. Nothing that happens is “unfortunate.” Rather, it’s fortunate when something happens and a person remains unharmed by it. Another person might have a different reaction. It makes no sense to call one “fortunate” and the other “unfortunate.” Nothing that happens prevents a person from allowing their nature to fulfill itself by acting justly, generously, with self-control, and all other good qualities.
According to Marcus, “fortunate" and “unfortunate” are a matter of perspective. The difference between the two is a person’s reaction to their circumstances, which in turn is determined by the person’s mind. A well-regulated mind understands that nothing can stop them from pursuing virtue, the most important thing.
Themes
