Stoic Secrets: 6 Ancient Quotes to Build Resilience

The insight of Marcus Aurelius

I am becoming a bit of a broken record when it comes to resilience.

I’ve been coaching for years and I think every coachee has heard me say at least once things like: “You can’t control events but you can control your thoughts about them.” And similar.

Of course, these aren’t my ideas. Much of what I say about resilience is my own cack-handed paraphrasing of that great Roman Marcus Aurelius.

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, wrote a short book of his thoughts while off waging war around Europe. Like you do.

But his ‘Meditations’ is a gold mine of insight and advice. 2000 years ago he was thinking through the challenges of living and writing down how he tried to meet those challenges.

In this week’s Mental Self-Defence, I share my six favourite Marcus Aurelius quotes.

Six Resilience Quotes from 2000 Years Ago

Get hold of ‘Meditations’ and have it by your bedside. If you need some inspiration to help you tackle the challenges in your life, a little Stoic wisdom goes a long way. You might fancy reading my daily positivity checklist too.

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