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Marcus Aurelius Quotes on Death

Death is among the most constant subjects of the Meditations, and the quotes gathered here show how Marcus Aurelius trained himself to meet it. For Marcus death is neither to be feared nor disdained but accepted as natural, one of the things that Nature wills, and he reasons that the longest and the shortest life finally lose one and the same thing, since no one can lose the past or the future but only the fleeting present. Far from being morbid, this awareness is meant to govern conduct now: not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you, but, while you are alive and able, to be good. Marcus reduces the whole matter to a steady demand: do the right thing, whether the moment finds one dying or busy with other assignments. These passages present the contemplation of death as a discipline that concentrates a life on virtue.

Quotes

  • “Think not disdainfully of death, but look on it with favor; for even death is one of the things that Nature wills.”

    Meditations, Book IX | IX, 3

  • “Turn thy thoughts now to the consideration of thy life, thy life as a child, as a youth, thy manhood, thy old age, for in these also every change was a death. Is this anything to fear?”

    Meditations, Book IX | IX, 21

  • “The longest-lived and the shortest-lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing.”

    Meditations, Book II | II, 14

  • “Be straightforward. Look at things like a man, like a human being, like a citizen, like a mortal.”

    Meditations, Book IV | IV, 4

  • “Not to live as if you had endless years ahead of you. Death overshadows you. While you're alive and able—be good.”

    Meditations, Book IV | IV, 17

  • “Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored. Dying . . . or busy with other assignments.”

    Meditations, Book VI | VI, 2

More from Marcus Aurelius

Other philosophers on Death

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