Marcus Aurelius Quotes

We're such a funky species. We're so violent, so greedy - this is how we roll. But what are we going to do about it? How do we move forward given who we are? Because situations don't come out of nothing. They come out of certain conditions.

We deal with our mind from morning until evening. This mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. We should do everything we can to improve outer circumstances - remedying poverty, inequalities, conflicts, and so on - while also doing our best to achieve a state of mind that give us the inner resources to deal with the ups and downs of life.

Don't look back, never look back. How often do people tell themselves that after an experience that is exceptionally good (or exceptionally bad?)? Often, I suppose. And the advice usually goes unheeded. Humans were built to look back; that's why we have tat swivel joint in our necks.

There are times I am happy. There are times I am sad. But I always try to separate emotion from the need to reach for something stronger, deeper. And then no matter the emotion, I can reach for a stability that helps me accomplish what is the goal.

I'm a human being who lives a flawed, contradictory life. And I have all sorts of problems and all sorts of successes.

To simply wake up every morning a better person than when I went to bed.

It's easy to see the faults in people I know; it's hardest to see the good. Especially when the good isn't there.

They are just 100 per cent bear, whereas human beings feel we're not 100 per cent human, that we're always letting ourselves down. We're constantly striving towards something, to some fulfilment.

I don't think people like to read about themselves or about others as they really are. It would be too horrifying.

I'm not a perfect human being.

I'm one of the most sensitive human beings on Earth - and I know it.

I've always been aware of having feelings that were pretty intense at times. I imagine most people have had that, or they wouldn't be human.

In the end, we know what makes us happy. We also know what makes us unhappy. That's the irony. We know and yet we still mess it up. That's part of the human condition, no, and why we need to work on it.

Man is never perfect, nor contented.

It excites me to go to a movie and be reminded that I'm human, and I'm filled with opposites, and I'm built with flaws. Part of growth and healing is recognizing that.

He's a man who... well, one of the great things about Shakespeare is that his characters are inconsistent, and that's something I think makes him a writer above most writers because inconsistency is what we, as people, are full of. We maybe don't see it in ourselves too often, but we are inconsistent.

I am not perfect. I know that. None of us is perfect.

I want to be able to show people that I have flaws and they have flaws, too. And you know what that means? No one out there is perfect.

I'm pretty self-aware, and I am an embarrassingly flawed human being in a ton of ways.

I've made mistakes, usually when I felt backed against a wall or faced enormous pressure. I'm human and flawed.

It's a form of human love to accept our complicated, messy humanity and not run away from it.

Flaws are really interesting.

I let characters be human and flawed and relatable. When we do things that aren't that great, we can understand it.

Everybody has seen that I make mistakes. Every single album I have ever made is about love. But I am not going to give up. I have to look at what I do wrong. I rush in, I get swept up, I ignore the signs. But so many of us are guilty of these things. Each time it goes wrong, it's hard. I get really hurt but I have to let myself go: 'What did I do? What can I learn?' And as hard and as hurtful as things get, I want to believe I will be able to go one step higher. I've got to hope that if I keep going I will eventually get it right.

People will allow their faults to be shown them; they will let themselves be punished for them; they will patiently endure many things because of them; they only become impatient when they have to lay them aside.