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
1. Injustice mocks the gods. Nature intends that human beings help each other; acting otherwise is irreligious. So is lying (because nature has given us the ability to distinguish between true and false), and pursuing pleasure while fleeing pain, seeing them as respectively good and bad. Nature doesn’t privilege good or bad over the other.
The gods have designed humanity to work together and treat one another justly. Nature also promotes harmony, so misinterpreting nature’s outcomes as good or bad is as disrespectful to the gods as mistreating another human being.
Themes
3. Don’t resist death—it’s just another natural stage of life. A person shouldn’t be in a hurry to die, or indifferent to it, but neither should he be afraid. It’s like the birth of the soul.
Death is likewise part of nature, which should shape people’s response to it. Marcus no doubt focuses on death throughout Meditations because he constantly faced it on the battlefield and expected his own could come at any time. Indeed, anyone living during the second century was forced to think about the reality of death on a regular basis.
Themes
8. All creatures with the logos share the same rational soul. It’s like how all creatures see by the same light and breathe the same air.
All things are part of nature, and all rational beings have a bit of divinity—the rational spirit, or logos—within them.
Themes
11. The gods are patient with people, so why can’t you be?
Building on his last point about how all rational beings have a bit of divinity within them, Marcus emphasizes that people should therefore regard each other as the gods do and treat one another accordingly
Themes
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21. We experience all sorts of “deaths.” The end of childhood or youth; even cessation from activity, or the end of a train of thought. What is so terrible about those?
Death isn’t a foreign phenomenon. People experience lesser “deaths” as they progress through life, suggesting that final death shouldn’t be feared as an enemy.
Themes
23. All actions should, whether directly or indirectly, be directed toward a “social” purpose. Anything else becomes divisive.
Because human beings are interconnected, all their efforts should aim at social harmony.
Themes
26. Suffering is caused by “not allowing the mind to do its job.”
The mind’s job is to regulate its reactions to things that happen. When the mind fails, suffering results. The entirety of Meditations is designed to help Marcus train his own mind to “do its job.”
Themes
27. When somebody insults you, try to understand what’s happening inside that person’s soul, and remember that the gods help that person just like they help you.
People have the same struggles, which should lead us to compassion even when mistreated.
Themes
29. Don’t worry about getting credit for what you do—just start doing it. And don’t “go expecting Plato’s Republic.” Be happy if there’s a little progress. And realize that unless people’s minds are really changed, you’ll get nothing better than pretended obedience.
Plato’s Republic was a foundational text of political philosophy with which Marcus was certainly familiar. He tells himself not to worry about attaining Plato’s standard for governance—instead, he wants to just focus on making progress and persuading others.
Themes
32. Unclutter your mind by remembering the size of the world, the infinity of time, and the rapidity of change.
Keeping life in perspective is a key to the mind’s clarity. An individual is small, both within the scope of the universe and of ever-changing history. By keeping this in mind, a person can root out inessential thoughts.
Themes
40. If you pray, don’t just pray for things to happen or not happen—pray not to feel fear, desire, etc.
Marcus seldom gives directions for what we might think of as “religion” (philosophy filling that category in many ways), but here he suggests that the training of one’s attitudes is a more important request from the gods than specific happenings.
Themes
42. When you encounter someone with an unpleasant trait, remember that the gods have distributed other, better qualities to balance it out. And always remember that no matter what somebody has done, their actions can’t damage your mind. It’s better to blame yourself for being surprised when someone behaves according to their traits.
From Marcus’s perspective, someone else’s failings should be no obstacle to thinking and behaving the right way.
Themes
