Timeless Wisdom: A Look at Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations"

Ep12 Timeless Wisdom_ A Look at Marcus Aurelius_s Meditations

Transcript

Dalton (00:01.102) Welcome to Venture Step Podcasts where we discuss entrepreneurship, industry trends, and the occasional book review. Today, we're taking a trip back in time to ancient Rome for a conversation with one of history's most powerful figures, Marcus Aurelius. The emperor and philosopher left behind a treasure trove of personal writings, we will be discussing Gregory Hayes' translation of Marcus's book, Meditations. Before we dive in, I'm your host,

Dalton. I've got a bit of a mix of background in programming, data science and insurance offline. You can find me building my side business running or lost in a good book. You can listen to the podcast and video or audio format on Spotify, YouTube. If audio is more your thing, you can find the podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever it's good. Your podcast today will be discussing meditations, a book not meant for

publication, but for personal reflection. Meditations was Marcus Aurelius' personal journal that was discovered by historians. When I say historians, I mean way back when, not present day historians, and it was preserved and it's been translated into many different languages. Marcus Aurelius, it was the Roman emperor from

161 to 180 AD. His reign was marked or soiled by wars and plagues, but is still considered part of the Pax Roma period, which was a period of heightened Roman power and stability and had a relatively considered peaceful.

time period?

Dalton (01:59.214) Unlike many emperors, Marcus Aurelius sided with Stoicism to delve, or not delve, but deal with his issues that he had and the weight that was to be a ruler of Rome and the weight of being one of the most powerful people in history and at that time, one of the most powerful people in the world.

And during his reign, talked about these external threats and internal social pressures that had a burden on him. And it definitely shows in the writings and certain themes that are talked about. Why does his writings resonate with people today? I think struggle is timeless. There's...

a gap between centuries between when you're reading it now and when Marcus wrote those things in his journal, but they still have meaning. It's about being human, exploring who you are, finding meaning in yourself, handling stress, dealing with difficult people, and seeking inner peace. And a lot of those things people see,

and feel today, especially dealing with difficult people. I know that there's people at work that that are difficult for it seems to you no reason and you just have to deal with it and however way you deal with it, it affects your mood. So that might help you out. But those things and especially him being an emperor, he. Isn't an emperor in these books, he's just a person writing down his.

And so there's like this humanity aspect that people normally wouldn't see as a world leader. World leaders don't have self -doubt. They don't seek self -improvement. They're kind of put on this pedestal by the media and for the right reasons, because if your leader has issues, then it shows weakness with your country. So it's just.

Dalton (04:28.75) really cool to see someone of that stature and society and during that time period be dealing with all these things that we would consider human.

What is discussed in the book is practical. There's no abstract ideas. It's just, it's providing a tool to live a better life. And, and I think that would be universally appealing to many readers. Marcus Aurelius' Meditations book has many translations, but I chose Gregory Hayes' translation simply because it's

readability, it's modern English, it still preserves the essence as...

Gregory Hayes has a scholarly reputation. He is a respected classic scholar and a professor. It's gotten many endorsements. It's a popular translation because it's been endorsed by famous stoics slash entrepreneurs like Tim Ferriss or Ryan Holiday. And so,

There's also that piece where there's many people reading Gregory Hayes and for the right reasons and it makes it relatable and it's endorsed by people that might already live in that space. I read Ryan Holiday's book, The Daily Stoic, and this is one of the next books that I wanted to read simply because Ryan Holiday talks about it so much. There's so many leaders that talk about this book.

Dalton (06:12.91) that they'd say, oh, I read it every day, or not every day, or I read it every year. I carry it around with me every day in my pocket just to remind me to stay on task and live with discipline and honor and virtue and not let things that I don't control bother me and seek inner peace.

Dalton (06:38.702) When we talk about the book Meditations, it's got a different format than the Daily Stoic. And how I would describe the Daily Stoic versus the Meditations is the Daily Stoic kind of has a hand on your back and kind of guides you through the process where you read one page per day. And then there's a section of what you read that's from some famous philosopher,

And then there is a snippet slash historical references below where it might say, okay.

Sinica wrote this during this time and there was this war going on or, you know, Marcus Aurelius, blah, blah, blah, had issues with his partner. And that's why he wrote that. Or there might be additional context to help you anchor in those words and etch them into your mind. There's also things where it has information related to

recent presidents or leaders or famous entrepreneurs and business owners where they might have additional contacts to.

give you...

Dalton (08:02.446) I mean, I don't want to say additional context, so many times in a row, like three times in one sentence, but it just gives you that that extra punch on what you're reading. So you kind of get a one to whereas, you know, the Daily Stokes, you kind of get a combo. But the meditations, there is no hand on your back. It's kind of a nonlinear, short, but powerful passages that either could be a couple of pages, could be a quarter of a page.

could be two sentences, a sentence, or maybe a couple words. Because it's not meant for publication, it's meant for Marcus. And it's Marcus' journal, and it's his diary, it's his personal thoughts, it's his notes. So they're not for anyone but himself. And there's a beauty in that because some of the stuff that he writes is just...

It's incredible and obviously I'm not the only one who thinks that because it's a famous book and well regarded. But with that in mind, it's just that there is the flow doesn't really flow as much and kind of all over the place. There is some themes to it, but they're kind of loose as they are a.

Dalton (09:26.83) a grouping of notes from a journal that's really old that's translated into English. So there is this there is some gaps there. And if you're expecting a page by page flow, something like that, I would think of it as more of like shorthand notes of of instruction that he was given by other philosophers or famous people in his time, things that happened throughout his life and him looking at.

retrospectively at X things that were going on or having his own opinion on his previous actions and, and trying to.

Dalton (10:08.75) improve himself and seeking self -improvement and virtue and peace and being a tool for society, being a productive member and leader, man, Roman, those kind of things. And for one, it's crazy because he is the one of the most powerful people in the world at the time.

And he is talking about how did I do everything I could to not cause harm, you know, to cause harm depreciates the soul. And am I, you know, doing the right thing and, and am I a good person and, and am I enabling other people, am I correcting people in a graceful manner? Am I accepting the lessons of my mistakes and all these things instead of being arrogant and

and things that he could be doing that he doesn't do. Cause there's no one checkmaking, checking him like, Hey, Marcus, how, how about you settled out your tone, Marcus or how about you not do this? I mean, there is no one that he's at the top. So, and there's a lot less rules back then, of course. So I think that gives a better perspective on, on.

Marcus and his notes and these are just things that he's writing down and you might have to navigate with him while he was navigating Rolling Roll.

And the core themes of it is related to stoicism, its virtue, duty, and accepting what you can't control.

Dalton (12:03.374) That being said, I wanted to discuss a couple of quotes that I have from the book and I'll be listing the pages and I'll read the section. There is many. I wanted to pick some that aren't too long and are still powerful.

And we'll read the quote and then I'll discuss my thoughts about it. I think that you get what it will be, but.

So this one is 550, section 11. It's the pursuit of those things and your attempt to avoid them that leaves you in such turmoil. And yet, they aren't seeking you out. You are the one seeking them. Suspend judgment about them and at once they will lie still and you will be freed from fleeting and pursuing.

Dalton (13:06.126) Okay, so in this, my thoughts are, is that Marcus is discussing and recognizing that our desires and aversions often cause us more inner chaos than the external things themselves. And so while you're emphasizing on the things that bring you suffering, it is giving those external things more power over us.

not the other way around. So it's kind of twofold where you need to accept what is happening to you and deal with them in the best ways you can. But also at the same time, you don't over pursue your desires as it's the same as avoiding your mistakes or issues or suffering that you have going on in your life currently.

Beautiful passage.

Page 30, section five. This is probably one of my favorite ones besides a famous quote that I didn't do because it's so famous and so I thought I would do this one instead. How to act.

Never under compulsion, out of selflessness, without forethought, with misgivings. Don't gussy up your thoughts, no surplus words, or unnecessary actions. Let the spirit in you represent a man, a citizen, a Roman, a ruler. Take up his post like a soldier, impatiently waiting for his recall from life, needing no oath or witness.

Dalton (14:54.222) without requiring the help or serenity supplied by others. To straighten up. To stand up straightened.

Dalton (15:10.542) To stand up straight and not strain. Sorry about that.

caught myself. So Marcus Aurelius is outlining his code of conduct for himself and emphasizing inner strength, clarity and purpose. And he's recognizing his values that he has, or not values, but his roles that he has in society. And so in his life and in other people's lives. So in other people's lives, he's a man, he's a citizen.

He's a citizen of Rome and he's also a ruler. And so he's saying, you know, take, take your station and wherever station you have and fulfill it to your fullest as a good soldier would. And so he's saying, I'm going to be the best man. I'm going to be the best citizen that I can be. I'm going to be the best Roman. I'm going to be an awesome ruler because that, that is, that is my role that I have. And I'll be.

completing that role to the best of my abilities until I die. And doing so without any oath, without anyone witnessing what I'm doing, he's going to take care of what needs to be done without supervision. And that's one of the big things is do, what is it, like is it, do what needs to be done without.

anyone watching. And that's kind of what Marcus is talking about is, you know, be cheerful without others bringing you up, you know, be the light of the room. Stand, stand, stand strong and your responsibilities and your duty in society. And don't, don't be strained by the things that give you purpose, I would say.

Dalton (17:12.942) Out of those two quotes, which quote resonated with you the most? I think that they're both phenomenal and definitely crazy thing to write in your journal. I think that's a classic for sure to just be outputting consistently in your journal. Once you read the whole book of what like 180 pages of just amazing pieces of text. It is.

It really is something else. When you think about it that way where it's not something that was intentional and is something that just came about, it is crazy. It's crazy in its own right. One thing that is important and was talked about with the Daily Stoic is that Meditations is not a book that you just read once. It's a book that you revisit and...

is not forgotten. So you would have to constantly keep touching and getting in getting touch and feel of meditations and reread the book after certain life experiences, similar to the daily stoic where like if you have a kid or you get married or you know, an unfortunate event happens, you get laid off, you get a new job, a new challenge in your life. That's when you will pick up that book and you'll be looking for guidance and

that book will be your lighthouse kind of thing.

And Marcus Aurelius' meditations has been something that you can incorporate in your life like many great leaders have and you can follow in their footsteps. I'm just going to name a couple. Frederick the Great, King of Persia used to carry a copy of meditations with him on his war campaigns. Theodore Roosevelt brought

Dalton (19:16.75) the Marcus Aurelius' Meditations on his River of Doubt expedition, which was one year on the river, I'm pretty sure. I forgot what river, I think it was in South America in the Amazon, I'm pretty sure. Definitely, if I'm wrong, correct me in the comments. Appreciate that. Bill Clinton cited Meditations as one of his favorite books. Tim Ferriss.

frequently discusses his own practices that were inspired by meditations. Several NFL coaches, including Bill Belichick, stated that they use ideas, Stoke ideas from meditations to instill focus and resilience among their players.

Meditations is more than just a history book. It offers a practical wisdom for anyone seeking inner peace in a meaningful life where you contribute to society, you accept things that you cannot control, and you find your inner peace with your mind. If your body is in pain,

then that is your body's fault.

If your soul is in pain, then that is yours. It's a quote from the book.

Dalton (20:48.974) paraphrase but that's that's from Marcus Aurelius. So I think you should pick up a copy and let Marcus Aurelius inspire you to find you find your inner peace, find your level of community and if you have any favorite quotes from meditations let me know in the comments.

on YouTube or Spotify, I'm pretty sure you can do comments. Let me know what your thoughts are. If you've read Meditations and what should I read next, I'm thinking about reading, and I already have it on my bookshelf over there if you're watching on video, is Thinking in Bets by...

Annie Duke. So Annie Duke was a what? PhD think mathematician and then she stumbled on to. Poker and so that's what I read next and so I want to read one book related to kind of philosophy and then one book related to business. So they're kind of balancing out. OK, well have a great weekend and I.

Appreciate you. As always, I'll talk to you next week. Bye.