Marcus Aurelius Quotes

I tune it all out because if I let other people's stress get to me, then I stress myself out more than I need to.

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

It is within your hands to be frustrated in life or not. Just your expectations should become smaller, smaller, smaller, and in the same proportion the frustration will become smaller. A day will come when there will be no expectation; then you will never come across any frustration.

No one can create negativity or stress within you. Only you can do that by virtue of how you process your world.

At the end of the day, the key to happiness is taking ultimate responsibility for your reactions to all of your experiences - the good and the chaotic.

Obviously, circumstances alone do not make us happy or unhappy. It is the way we react to circumstances that determines our feelings. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is within you. That is where the kingdom of hell is, too.

Happiness and unhappiness are in the heart and spirit of each one of us: If you feel unhappy, then place yourself above that and act so that your happiness does not get to be dependent on anything.

You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.

You're the only one that's in control of your emotions; you're the only one that's inside of you at all times. So control you however you want to. If you're not happy, that's your fault.

I'm an emotional person, but it is not my helplessness.

I try to be positive and calm all the time.

The mind is a matter over every kind of fortune; itself acts in both ways, being the cause of its own happiness and misery.

Just because you had every right to feel sorry for yourself didn't mean you ever took the opportunity to do so.

No one can make you jealous, angry, vengeful or greedy. Unless you let him.

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

You don't want to cry over yourself, you don't want to have compassion about yourself. It's not the right place.

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.

I will always have fears, but I need not be my fears, for I have other places within myself from which to speak and act.

The right attitude toward any negative state begins with understanding that its only authority over you is a direct reflection of your attitude towards it.

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

At any given moment in your life, you have the choice between love and fear. And that's a choice you make. You make the choice of how you react to events.

It is not insult from another that causes you pain. It is the part of your mind that agrees with the insult. Agree only with the truth about you, and you are free.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts.

The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but thought about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral. It is as it is.

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