121-180, Roman Emperor, Stoic Philosopher
Acceptance
Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you.
The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius , Mark Forstater, tr., 2000
Actualization / Fulfillment
Everything you wish to eventually achieve, you can have right now, if you don't refuse it to yourself. And this means taking no notice of the past, trusting the future to providence, and living now in union with faith and justice.
Ibid.
Adversity
When your inner spirit is in harmony with Nature it can adapt easily to all events and possibilities. For this spirit does not need any special matter or substance to function, but works on what ever obstacles are put in its way. We can compare it to a bonfire that consumes whatever is thrown in it: if the fire is feeble it can be extinguished, but a strong blaze feeds on everything, and its flames grow ever higher.
Ibid.
Anger
When in anger we reject other people, or turn on them with the aim of inflicting pain, we damage our souls even more.
Ibid.How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
Ibid.
Attitude
If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Meditations
Being / Essence / Soul
The sphere of the soul maintains its perfect form when it is not extended toward any object, or shrinking in on itself, or dispersed or sunk down, but only when it is bathed in light, the light in which it sees the truth, both in all things and in itself.
The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius , Mark Forstater, tr., 2000
Wisdom for The Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing , © 2004