This translation (Long) is my favorite.
The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
41–50 of 103 posts
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#42I highly recommend William Irvine's A Guide to the Good Life, then reading Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, et al. As an aside: I listened to Irvine on audiobook immediately after listening to Sherry Turkle's Alone Together. It was like reading about a disease and then the treatment. Recommend, would do again.
My first book about Stoicism and I loved it. Read it multiple times afterwards!!
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#43I have a copy on my nightstand that I read semi-frequently. It's interesting to keep in mind that he wrote them as a personal journal and never intended for his writings to be read by a broader audience. He frequently chastises himself and one of my favorite reflections comes from the beginning of Book V. The translation from the OP isn't the best but it's all I have on hand: "In the morning when thou risest unwillin…
I recommend Gregory Hays' new translation, without the 'thou's and 'dost's.
http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Modern-Lib...
"At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work–as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for–the things which I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?
- But it’s nicer here…
So you were born to feel “nice?” Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?
- But we have to sleep sometime…
Agreed. But nature set a limit on that–as it did on eating and drinking. And you’re over the limit. But not of working. There you’re still below your quota.
You don't love yourself enough. Or you'd love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they're really possessed by what they do, they'd rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts."
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#44Meditations have already been discussed on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5160713
There are great recommendations in there if anybody wants to dive deeper into Stoicism or understand Meditations better.
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#45Just checked wikipedia [1], and found this critique: > D.A. Rees calls the Meditations "unendingly moving and inspiring", but does not offer them up as works of original philosophy. Bertrand Russell found them contradictory and inconsistent, evidence of a "tired age" where "even real goods lose their savour". Using Marcus as an example of greater Stoic philosophy, he found their ethical philosophy to contain an eleme…
I'd be interested in reading more along those lines too. Anyone recommend an article or book?
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#46This has become my preferred translation. It's a great modern translation and uses very approachable language. To me it reads much more like a journal than the other available translations. http://amzn.to/1xy6LYZ
Thanks for the recommendation (really) but please don't use URL shorteners.
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#47I have a copy on my nightstand that I read semi-frequently. It's interesting to keep in mind that he wrote them as a personal journal and never intended for his writings to be read by a broader audience. He frequently chastises himself and one of my favorite reflections comes from the beginning of Book V. The translation from the OP isn't the best but it's all I have on hand: "In the morning when thou risest unwillin…
I recommend Gregory Hays' new translation, without the 'thou's and 'dost's. http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Modern-Lib... "At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work–as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for–the things which I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under…
I'd rather be comfortable. The life of animals in the wild is generally brutal and short - give me my blankets any day over some sense of duty.
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#48Just checked wikipedia [1], and found this critique: > D.A. Rees calls the Meditations "unendingly moving and inspiring", but does not offer them up as works of original philosophy. Bertrand Russell found them contradictory and inconsistent, evidence of a "tired age" where "even real goods lose their savour". Using Marcus as an example of greater Stoic philosophy, he found their ethical philosophy to contain an eleme…
I'd be interested in reading more along those lines too. Anyone recommend an article or book?
Have a read of A New Stoicism by Lawrence C Becker [0]. It is quite technical in places but the introductary chapters and the conclusion will do enough to put old Bertie back in his logical positivist box. It's not as if Bertie was a slap, happy old hippy himself.
[0] - http://www.amazon.com/New-Stoicism-Lawrence-C-Becker/dp/0691...
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recommend Gregory Hays' new translation, without the 'thou's and 'dost's. http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Modern-Lib... "At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work–as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for–the things which I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under…
I'd rather be comfortable. The life of animals in the wild is generally brutal and short - give me my blankets any day over some sense of duty.
Staying under the blankets longer than required will shorten the journey even further. Perhaps, it might make it even more brutal.
Re: The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
#50I just don't get why this is at the top of Hacker News. Should I post a fucking copy of Walden next week?
Stoics are tough minded rationalists who can take the shit thrown at them by life without complaint and hopefully without compromising their integrity or mental wellbeing.
You don't need to be Einstein to see that this has a huge crossover into the startup world where the stress is huge.
Your ignorance and inability to make this connection is endearing if not a little worrying for your future sanity.