stoicism takes the position that the wise man, the good man, the philosopher, is a man who lives in accordance with nature. He fears only abdicating his moral responsibility. He is not afraid of pain, he is not afraid of death, he is not afraid of poverty, he is not afraid of any of the vicissitudes of The Human Condition. He fears only that he should let himself down and that he should be less than a complete human being. [Music] Philosopher Marcus Aurelius was one of the founding fathers of stoicism, and he is famous for his book Meditations. The idea of being a great man is kind of nebulous, but there is perhaps no single person in history who has ever been more deserving of that title. This is not a self-help video, I promise you that, but the philosophy that Marcus pioneered and wrote about can be an antidote to so many of the problems that we encounter in Modern Life. I want to show you why. Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor who served from 161 A.D to 180 A.D. He was

the last of the so-called five good Emperors and served over a period known as the Pax Romana or the Roman piece. In fact, when Marcus Aurelius died, the Pax Romana ended. Aurelius, when he was Emperor, was the most powerful man in the world. The Romans basically had no concept of the globe outside of their empire, so as far as he was concerned, Marcus was effectively ruler of the world. In this position, he could have anything he wanted. Precedent had been set: the life of a Roman Emperor was basically synonymous with Hedonism; that was what Roman emperors did. They indulged in money, sex, wine, and any other Pursuit that even vaguely occurred to them. It was practically expected, so any Vice the mind could have possibly considered was directly Within Reach for Marcus Aurelius. He was entirely Unbound by money, law, custom, or even ethics. No one and nothing would stop him from realizing his wildest desires. But even in those Limitless circumstances, Marcus Aurelius chose a

life of virtue. He chose to be a good man, and not just in one instant or on one occasion, but every day for all 19 years of his time as Emperor. Marcus Aurelius was a fundamentally good man. Being good doesn't make you a great person, but imagine staring down the Beast of truly unlimited fantasies and declaring, No, I choose virtue. Not for the sake of praise or fame or admiration, but just for the sake of being good. That is impressive. I mean, consider the circumstances and consider if you were in those circumstances for almost 20 years. Could you consistently, day in and day out, overcome the monster of temptation, knowing that there would be no ramifications whatsoever, no matter what you choose to do? What would you do? How would you act? I know I couldn't follow the example set by Marcus Aurelius. And we know it was a true example because when no one was looking, that's when Marcus was at his best. Meditations is a book written by Marcus Aurelius. Well, it's not really a book, it

was Marcus Aurelius's personal journal. This book is basically Marcus navigating his way through life. It has no real structure, aside from being vaguely divided into 12 parts, and it's only about 150 pages. Meditations is the title that publishers have prescribed to it. The writings had no title; they were never intended to be read, much less published, by any person at any point other than Marcus himself. They were Marcus Aurelius's deepest confessions and beliefs. With that in mind, Meditations is immensely revealing as to the character of its writer because, again, Aurelius wasn't writing this for anyone but himself. But despite this seemingly off-the-cuff nature, Meditations is one of the most powerful and most poignant books ever put to paper. Undoubtedly, the best thing to do is read Meditations for yourself. There are copies of it in almost every single library and bookstore in the country, maybe the world. But for the purposes of this video, there are a few ideas in there I think are really worth examining. [Music] Oh, Marcus Aurelius believed in living in

accordance with nature. By Nature, Aurelius was referring to the plants and animals, yes, but also to the Natural order of the universe. Trees grow because that's what they're made to do. They grow as big as they can and become as beautiful as they can, not because they want praise or are looking for some external validation, but instead, they grow to be powerful and awe-inspiring because that's what they're made to do. That is the natural order. A caterpillar becomes a butterfly, a frail featherless chick becomes an eagle, not because they want to, but because they are created to. In the same way, Marcus believed that the duty of a human was to fulfill their potential. He did not believe in accumulating things or riches (and we'll talk about that later), or being awarded or given accolades. Nature had made you a human, and with that in mind, it was your duty on this Earth to be the kindest, most virtuous human that you can possibly be. For Marcus, this is the Pinnacle of human achievement.

unfulfilled potential. That was the darkest place you could sink to after all. You can't control anything else. You can't control what the world throws your way, but you can control how you react. And no matter what happens, a great person weathers the storm and lives up to their fullest, most virtuous potential. That is your duty as a human. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor, so although he may have enjoyed sitting around writing all day, that wasn't his job. And he didn't write very much. He had to deal with a lot of things and a lot of people. Above All Else, Marcus believed that evil, wicked, or just somehow bad people were simply part of our universe. Asking the world to not present you with these people would be like asking a vine to exist without thorns. Don't be ridiculous. There's simply nothing you can do. Marcus says bad people exist, and in your life, you will encounter them. Marcus believed in kindness though, and he believed that people didn't ever want to do the wrong thing. Instead, when

people did the wrong thing. It was simply out of ignorance. You can try to teach these people, sure, but it's just not always going to be an option. So we can't control if the universe sends us the immoral or the wicked or the lazy. And if we can't also help these people, which usually we can't, we just have to put up with it. To do this, Marcus says you should look inward. He writes to himself, Hey Marcus, you've got faults too. Who are you to judge? Maybe you have different faults than these so-called bad people, but Marcus, you have your faults nevertheless. In a different conversation, on a different day, perhaps you, Marcus, would be the ignorant one. And Marcus, it's possible that you just don't understand. He told himself, Hey, you can't even be sure that they are doing the wrong thing. The thief who steals to feed his family isn't wrong; you just don't understand. And often in life, you won't understand, and you won't know that you don't understand. So again, don't judge.

ultimately, Marcus Aurelius believed that we were all born for each other. Over and over, he reminded himself that is the natural order. A tree grows fruit so animals can eat; animals die so that worms have food. Just like in the natural world, we are all made to help each other. That is, again, our duty. The only true failure in life would be to abdicate this responsibility. So, Marcus, you better do it, and you better do it well. We all go through adversity, and Marcus Aurelius was no exception. But just like encountering bad people, Marcus realized that encountering adversity is simply part of the human condition. Again, you can only control what you can control. So, don't pray for bad things not to happen. That is a fool's errand, Marcus told himself. Those things are going to happen, and there's positively absolutely nothing you can do about it. But what you can control, Marcus, is you can control how you react to them. You can control if you are ready to meet adversity when it comes. And it will, Marcus says. You know

that it will. When that day arrives, don't be sad because something bad happened. Don't feel bad for yourself. Don't mope. Instead, feel fortunate that you have the tools and the spirit to make it through unscathed. Marcus tells himself, Bear these events as a brave man. Go through adversity with bravery and come out on the other side. When you do, realize that this supposedly bad thing was not bad at all. It was simply an opportunity to persist, to rise above, to keep going forward. Marcus Aurelius says, When these events come, don't complain. Act. Endure. You can either endure something or you can't. So what happens if and when that unendurable thing comes your way? Don't disgrace yourself. Marcus, he says, All men die, but not all men die complaining. Marcus Aurelius was a man of enormous wealth, but he did not believe this was inherently a problem. Marcus did not vilify material possession like some other philosophers have throughout history, but instead, he was cautious with his relationship to the things that he owned. Marcus Aurelius could have had anything.

he wanted money houses art wine but he chose not to. Instead, he said, Marcus, don't dream of physical things that you want. These are meaningless. They don't fulfill your potential. Only you can do that. Reflect on what you do have and value these things. Remember how much you would want them if you didn't have them. But be careful, Marcus, he tells himself, not to value them so much that you would be despondent if they just disappeared. They don't matter. They're nice, but they don't matter. They don't improve you as a person. They don't make you more virtuous or more kind. Your potential is not accumulating things, Marcus. No, the human potential is higher than that. You must live in accordance with nature. Marcus Aurelius spent a lot of his time thinking about death, so much so that it would be impossible to make this video without discussing his opinions on the subject. And his views on death were simple: it's coming whether you like it or not, he tells himself time and time again. It's outside of your control, so don't waste

your time fearing death or fretting over mortality. Just like Nature has assigned us to be good, to help one another, and to reach our fullest potentials. Nature has assigned us to die. Death is a duty, so while you're here, live, be kind, be good, fulfill your role in nature, and then die because death is also part of that role. Marcus Aurelius, along with a couple other men, was a forebearer of the philosophy known as stoicism. The stoics believed in many things; their school of thought covers logic, ethics, physics, and a whole lot more, but there is one distinction that lies at the core of the stoic philosophy: the distinction of pleasure versus happiness. Money, Fame, even success were external stimuli that provided fleeting moments of pleasure, but this wasn't happiness. Happiness was not so temporary; the concept of Happiness was something more. It was a state of being that came entirely from within. It didn't come from being an emperor like Marcus Aurelius; it didn't come from any worldly things. The stoic said to achieve happiness, you

should live a life of virtue. You should continue to better yourself and become all that you possibly can. The only failure, the only true pain, the only true sadness. The Only Thing Worth fearing is to let yourself down by not achieving your potential because, and only because, being great is your duty. Being great is in your very nature.

Marcus Aurelius: The Man Who Solved the Universe

Marcus Aurelius: The Man Who Solved the Universe