The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. a New Translation from the Greek Original with a Life, Notes etc. by Marcus Aurelius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not so much the emperor's autobiography but a mild and easily readable collection of ruminations on wisdom that quickly devolves into a fairly dense listing of aphorisms.

It's almost like Nietzsche said, "Hey, let's read Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, and model my own weird crap on his style." And voila! He did.

Honestly, other than the whole death of fire becomes air crap, I have nothing overly critical to say about any of his homey wisdom pieces, whether political (which read like Lao Tzu's Way) or personal.

HOWEVER.

This short book *feels* like it is a PR piece. Like, completely whitewashed old-man ramblings making his life seem as rosy as Venus's bottom. You know, a standard politician's autobiography. All offending bits have been excised. He's as pious as a pothead.

But is it a good read? Perhaps... if you like some light philosophy and to judge for yourself how to live a good life. It's not a bad read at all, rather smooth, even. Except when it just becomes a bunch of one-liners like a motivational speech. But ignore that bit. Or read it on the toilet. Whatever suits you. :)

Old classic challenge. Completed.


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