00:05stoicism takes the position that the
00:08wise man the good man the philosopher is
00:11a man who lives in accordance with
00:12nature he fears only
00:15abdicating his moral responsibility he
00:18is not afraid of pain he is not afraid
00:20of death he is not afraid of poverty he
00:23is not afraid of any of the vicissitudes
00:25of The Human Condition he fears only
00:27that he should let himself down and that
00:29he should be less than a complete human
00:35philosopher Marcus Aurelius was one of
00:37the founding fathers of stoicism and he
00:39is famous for his book meditations the
00:42idea of being a great man is kind of
00:44nebulous but there is perhaps no single
00:46person in history who has ever been more
00:49deserving of that title
00:51this is not a self-help video I promise
00:54you that but the philosophy that Marcus
00:56pioneered and wrote about can be an
00:58antidote to so many of the problems that
01:01we encounter in Modern Life I want to
01:11Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor who
01:13served from 161 A.D to 180 A.D he was
01:16the last of the so-called five good
01:18Emperors and served over a period known
01:20as the Pax Romana or the Roman piece in
01:23fact when Marcus Aurelius died the Pax
01:27Aurelius when he was Emperor was the
01:29most powerful man in the world the
01:32Romans basically had no concept of the
01:34globe outside of their empire so as far
01:36as he was concerned Marcus was
01:37effectively ruler of the world
01:40in this position he could have anything
01:45precedent had been set the life of a
01:46Roman Emperor was basically synonymous
01:48with Hedonism that was what Roman
01:51emperors did they indulged in money sex
01:54wine and any other Pursuit that even
01:56vaguely occurred to them it was
01:58practically expected
02:00so any Vice the mind could have possibly
02:03considered was directly Within Reach for
02:07he was entirely Unbound by money law
02:10custom or even ethics no one and nothing
02:12would stop him from realizing his
02:17but even in those Limitless
02:19circumstances Marcus Aurelius chose a
02:23life of virtue he chose to be a good man
02:26and not just in one instant or on one
02:28occasion but every day for all 19 years
02:31of his time as Emperor Marcus Aurelius
02:34was a fundamentally good man
02:38being good doesn't make you a great
02:40person but imagine staring down the
02:42Beast of truly unlimited fantasies and
02:44declaring no I choose virtue not for the
02:48sake of Praise or fame or admiration but
02:51just for the sake of being good
02:58I mean consider the circumstances and
03:00consider if you were in those
03:01circumstances for almost 20 years could
03:04you consistently day in and day out
03:06overcome the monster of Temptation
03:09knowing that there would be no
03:10ramifications whatsoever no matter what
03:13you choose to do what would you do how
03:19I know I couldn't follow the example set
03:21by Marcus Aurelius and we know it was a
03:24true example because when no one was
03:26looking that's when Marcus was at his
03:35meditations is a book written by Marcus
03:37Aurelius well it's not really a book it
03:39was Marcus aurelius's personal Journal
03:41this book is basically Marcus navigating
03:44his way through life it has no real
03:46structure aside from being vaguely
03:48divided into 12 parts and it's only
03:52meditations is the title that Publishers
03:55have prescribed to it the writings had
03:58no title they were never intended to be
04:00read much less published by any person
04:02at any point other than Marcus himself
04:05they were Marcus aurelius's deepest
04:08confessions and beliefs with that in
04:11mind meditations is immensely revealing
04:13as to the character of its writer
04:17because again Aurelius wasn't writing
04:19this for anyone but himself but despite
04:22this seemingly off the cuff nature
04:23meditations is one of the most powerful
04:26and most poignant books ever put to
04:29undoubtedly the best thing to do is read
04:31meditations for yourself there are
04:33copies of it in almost every single
04:34library and bookstore in the country
04:36maybe the world but for the purposes of
04:39this video there are a few ideas in
04:41there I think are really worth examining
05:02Marcus Aurelius believed in living in
05:05accordance with nature by Nature
05:06Aurelius was referring to the plants and
05:08animals yes but also to the Natural
05:11order of the universe
05:13trees grow because that's what they're
05:15made to do they grow as big as they can
05:17and become as beautiful as they can not
05:19because they want praise or are looking
05:21for some external validation but instead
05:24they grow to be powerful and
05:25awe-inspiring because that's what
05:27they're made to do that is the natural
05:30a caterpillar becomes a butterfly a
05:33frail featherless chick becomes an eagle
05:35not because they want to but because
05:38they are created too
05:41in the same way Marcus believed that the
05:43duty of a human was to fulfill their
05:45potential he did not believe in
05:46accumulating things or riches and we'll
05:48talk about that later or being awarded
05:51or given accolades nature had made you a
05:54human and with that in mind it was your
05:56duty on this Earth to be the kindest
05:59most virtuous human that you can
06:02possibly be for Marcus this is the
06:04Pinnacle of human achievement and
06:06unfulfilled potential that was the
06:08darkest place you could sink to
06:11after all you can't control anything
06:13else you can't control what the world
06:15throws your way but you can control how
06:17you react and no matter what happens a
06:20great person weathers the storm and
06:22lives up to their fullest most virtuous
06:26that is your duty as a human
06:42Marcus Aurelius was an emperor so
06:44although he may have enjoyed sitting
06:46around writing all day that wasn't his
06:47job and he didn't write very much he had
06:49to deal with a lot of things and a lot
06:53Above All Else Marcus believed that evil
06:55Wicked or just somehow bad people were
06:58simply part of our universe
07:00asking the world to not present you with
07:02these people would be like asking a vine
07:04to exist without Thorns don't be
07:06ridiculous there's simply nothing you
07:08can do Marcus says bad people exist and
07:12in your life you will encounter them
07:15Marcus believed in kindness though and
07:17he believed that people didn't ever want
07:19to do the wrong thing instead when
07:21people did the wrong thing it was simply
07:24out of ignorance you can try to teach
07:26these people sure but it's just not
07:27always going to be an option
07:29so we can't control if the universe
07:31sends us the immoral or the wicked or
07:33the lazy and if we can't also help these
07:36people which usually we can't we just
07:38have to put up with it to do this Marcus
07:41says you should look inward
07:43he writes to himself hey Marcus you've
07:46got faults too who are you to judge
07:48maybe you have different faults than
07:49these so-called bad people but Marcus
07:52you have your faults nevertheless in a
07:55different conversation on a different
07:56day perhaps you Marcus would be the
07:58ignorant one and Marcus it's possible
08:01that you just don't understand he told
08:03himself hey you can't even be sure that
08:04they are doing the wrong thing the thief
08:07who steals to feed his family isn't
08:09wrong you just don't understand and
08:12often in life you won't understand and
08:13you won't know that you don't understand
08:16so again don't judge
08:20ultimately Marcus Aurelius believed that
08:22we were all born for each other over and
08:25over he reminded himself that is the
08:27natural Order A Tree Grows fruit so
08:30animals can eat animals die so that
08:32worms have food just like in the natural
08:35world we are all made to help each other
08:37that is again our duty
08:41the only true failure in life would be
08:43to abdicate this responsibility so
08:46Marcus you better do it and you better
09:00we all go through adversity and Marcus
09:02Aurelius was no exception but just like
09:04encountering bad people Marcus realized
09:06that encountering adversity is simply
09:08part of the human condition again you
09:10can only control what you can control so
09:13don't pray for bad things not to happen
09:15that is a Fool's errand Marcus told
09:19those things are going to happen and
09:20there's positively absolutely nothing
09:23you can do about it but what you can
09:25control Marcus is you can control how
09:28you react to them you can control if you
09:30are ready to meet adversity when it
09:32comes and it will Marcus says you know
09:36when that day arrives don't be sad
09:38because something bad happened don't
09:40feel bad for yourself don't mope instead
09:42feel fortunate that you have the tools
09:44and the spirit to make it through
09:48Marcus tells himself bear these events
09:50as a brave man go through adversity with
09:52bravery and come out on the other side
09:54when you do realize that this supposedly
09:57bad thing was not bad at all it was
09:59simply an opportunity to persist to rise
10:02above to keep going forward
10:06Marcus Aurelia says when these events
10:08come don't complain act endure you can
10:11either endure something or you can't
10:13so what happens if and when that
10:16unendurable thing comes your way don't
10:18disgrace yourself Marcus he says all men
10:21die but not all men die complaining
10:33Marcus Aurelius was a man of enormous
10:35wealth but he did not believe this was
10:37inherently a problem Marcus did not
10:39vilify material possession like some
10:41other philosophers have throughout
10:42history but instead he was cautious with
10:45his relationship to the things that he
10:49Marcus Aurelius could have had anything
10:51he wanted money houses art wine but he
10:54chose not to instead he said Marcus
10:58don't dream of physical things that you
11:00want these are meaningless they don't
11:02fulfill your potential only you can do
11:04that reflect on what you do have and
11:08value these things remember how much you
11:10would want them if you didn't have them
11:13but be careful Marcus he tells himself
11:15not to Value them so much that you would
11:19be despondent if they just disappeared
11:23they're nice but they don't matter
11:25they don't improve you as a person they
11:27don't make you more virtuous or more
11:29kind your potential is not accumulating
11:32things Marcus no the human potential is
11:35higher than that you must live in
11:38accordance with nature
11:48Marcus Aurelia spent a lot of his time
11:51thinking about death so much so that
11:52would be impossible to make this video
11:54without discussing his opinions on the
11:57and his views on death were simple it's
12:00coming whether you like it or not he
12:03tells himself time and time again it's
12:05outside of your control so don't waste
12:07your time fearing death or fretting over
12:11just like Nature has assigned us to be
12:13good to help one another and to reach
12:15our fullest potentials Nature has
12:22so while you're here live be kind be
12:25good fulfill your role in nature and
12:29then die because death is also part of
12:39Marcus Aurelius along with a couple
12:40other men was a forebearer of the
12:42philosophy known as stoicism the stoics
12:45believed in many things their school of
12:47thought covers logic ethics physics and
12:49a whole lot more but there is one
12:52distinction that lies at the core of the
12:54stoic philosophy the distinction of
12:58pleasure versus happiness
13:01money Fame even success where external
13:04stimuli that provided fleeting moments
13:06of pleasure but this wasn't happiness
13:08happiness was not so temporary
13:11concept of Happiness was something more
13:14it was a state of being that came
13:16entirely from within
13:18it didn't come from being an emperor
13:19like Marcus Aurelius didn't come from
13:23the stoic said to achieve happiness you
13:26should live a life of virtue you should
13:28continue to better yourself and become
13:30all that you possibly can the only
13:33failure the only true pain the only true
13:35sadness The Only Thing Worth fearing is
13:38to let yourself down by not achieving
13:42because and only because being great is
13:46your duty being great is in your very
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