Marcus Aurelius Meditations

[Anonymous No.14079108]

I've been recommended this. Should I read it even though I'm a pleb who doesn't know much philosophy? Should I read anything before it?
I'm mostly just interested in becoming more "chill" in real life, and not as stressed or easily moved emotionally.

[Anonymous No.14079172]

>>14079108
The book is made up of passages, most just a few sentences in length. Reading it without context (i.e. a good understanding of stoicism), you will just project your own personal interpretations onto the writing, instead of understanding them the way Aurelius did as a Stoic. That can be good or bad, depending on what your goals are with the book. If all you want to be is more "chill" then you should probably get a sense of stoicism first, and read Aurelius after. The edition of the book in your op has a good preface which might be enough introduction

[Anonymous No.14079194]

>>14079108
First philosophy book I read, it’s easy to read just short paragraphs and statements on how to lead a good life worth a read

[Anonymous No.14079207]

Read me instead.

[Anonymous No.14079257]

>>14079194
>>14079172
Alright, thanks anons. I'll give it a try then. I was about to ask which edition would you recommend but you already answered that.

>>14079207
Which books?

[Anonymous No.14079346]

Gregory Hayes's edition is one of the best and has a pretty good and long explanatory intro so you'll have no problems understanding the basic concepts. It's a good book, read it.

[Anonymous No.14079430]

This is more than I bargained for, but I'll take it.

[Anonymous No.14079497]

Meditations is too personal of a book to be a proper philosophical text. Those passages meant a lot to the author, but they may come off as platitudes or just gibberish to you.

A better Stoic beginner text would be Epictetus' Enchiridion (or the Handbook) - the guy quite obviously influenced Marcus' actions and writings. Another good source would be the writings of Seneca, mainly his essays (for example, On Tranquility of Mind) and letters (there is a lot of them and they mostly concertn events and conversations current to Seneca and his pen pal, the governor of modern Syria, if I remember correctly).

If you need any help with Meditations, consider pairing it with a secondary source - a good one would be Pierre Hadot's Inner Citadel.

[Anonymous No.14079555]

>>14079108
If you get the book, take your time with it. You could read it in a day, but you should consider making pauses between parts and writing down the passages that resonate (I like the one about getting up in the morning)

[Anonymous No.14079609]

>>14079108
>Should I read anything before it?
Reading Epictetus's Discourses and Seneca's Letters from a Stoic before it would help you a lot. Remember that this is MA's diary and his aim wasn't to teach other but to remind himself. In fact, this wasn't even mean for posterity. That being said, you can read MA first and then reread it after reading Epictetus and Seneca.

[Anonymous No.14079625]

>>14079609
>discourses
why not enchiridion instead, it's concise
>letters from a stoic
why not the essays instead, the collection is so long it kills the drive to keep reading them

[Anonymous No.14079633]

>>14079555
What other passages have resonated with you? I particularly like the one about the look from above.

[Anonymous No.14079668]

>>14079633
Most of them come from Book 8, idk why, maybe it's the one that I happened to "get" it on. Things like that help me get through the day.

59 - People exist for one another. You can instruct or endure them.

50 - The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around them. That’s all you need to know. Nothing more. Don’t demand to know “why such things exist.” Anyone who understands the world will laugh at you, just as a carpenter would if you seemed shocked at finding sawdust in his workshop.

29 - To erase false perceptions, tell yourself: I have it in me to keep my soul from evil, lust and all confusion. To see things as they are and treat them as they deserve. Don’t overlook this innate ability.

[Anonymous No.14079820]

Read the Discourses of Epictetus before. It is by far the best Stoicism book. And the source for Marcus Aurelius.
After that read "The Inner Citadel". Then you can understand the Meditations better.

>>14079625
The Discourses explain better Epictetus' ethics. The Enchiridion is too concise.

[Anonymous No.14079838]

>>14079108
It really depends on the person anon. For some people it's life changing, for others it's boring and is way too fatalistic. You might really like it, but be warned; it's very repetitive. It's not meant to be read as a philosophical text, but was just the self writings of a man throughout his life.

[Anonymous No.14080885]

>>14079108

[Anonymous No.14080960]

>>14079207
Based
>>14079257
Letters from a Stoic. Or just On the Shortness of Life if you want a quickie

[Anonymous No.14081631]

>>14079625
>why not enchiridion instead, it's concise
The Enchiridion (from the name) is a summarized version of Discourses. It's great if you've read Discourses which goes over in great details over all the points made in The Enchiridion.
>why not the essays instead, the collection is so long it kills the drive to keep reading them
There's no need to rush. Even though there are over 100 letters, they aren't very long. However, I see nothing wrong with reading the essays. It's up to the person anyway.

[Anonymous No.14081714]

Stoicism is a bitchmade way to go through life, it's for fucking pussies just like Buddhism.

[Anonymous No.14082065]

>>14079609
Which versions do you recommend? Or does it not matter and I can just get whichever?

[Anonymous No.14082075]

>>14079207
Seneca>Epictetus>Aurelius

[Anonymous No.14082104]

>>14079108
Yeah it's one of the most accessible philosophical works ever, and a pretty good introduction to ancient moral discourse in general I would say.

[Anonymous No.14082376]

>>14082065
I recommends everyman one.