Marcus Aurelius Quotes

Make the decision and say, "I'm not letting that worry in. I'm done being upset when my plans don't work out. I'm not letting that stress in." Negative thoughts will still come to your mind, but you don't have to let them into your spirit.

Nothing has any power over me other than that which I give it through my conscious thoughts.

I don't let the hate go to my heart, and I don't let the praise go to my head.

Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.

We are not disturbed by what happens to us, but by our thoughts about what happens to us.

I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside.

There's a lot around us that we can't control, but my body, my mind, and my soul are pretty much the only things that I can.

I can only control what I can control at the end of the day, so some things you just can't allow to take your head the other way, some things happen for a reason.

The problem is not what other people think, do or say; it is your reaction.

Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: ‘To rise above little things’.

Name one practical, down-to-earth effect of spirituality," said the skeptic who was ready for an argument. "Here's one," said the Master. "When someone offends you, you can raise your spirits to heights where offenses cannot reach.

We underestimate the value of patience. It is possible that people might sometimes interrupt our meditation sessions or Dharma study, but they can never take away our opportunity to train in inner virtues such as patience. It is this mental training, rather than outer virtuous activities, that is the essence of Dharma practice.

You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you. Things can't shape our decisions by themselves.

If you know how to keep yourself pleasant within, irrespective of what is happening around you, Ultimate Liberation cannot be denied to you.

If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.

If we develop the force of will, we shall find that we do not need the force of arms.

Why dost thou not pray... to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should not happen or happen?

Today I will be the master of my emotions.

Although anxiety is part of life, never let it control you.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Our attitudes cannot stop our feelings, but they can keep our feelings from stopping us.

When you are genuinely strong, you neither attack nor defend and so retain your energy.

Is your cucumber bitter? Throw it away. Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, "Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world?" neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility. . . .

When you allow a person's words to upset you, you're giving away your power.