Meditations

Douban Goodreads Goodreads
Meditations

Login or register to review or add this item to your collection.

ISBN: 9780140449334
author: Marcus Aurelius
translator: Martin Hammond
publishing house: Penguin Classics
publication date: 2006 -10
language: English
binding: Paperback
price: USD 11.00
number of pages: 304

/ 10

4 ratings

No enough ratings
Borrow or Buy

Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν

Marcus Aurelius    translator: Martin Hammond

overview

One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent. The book, which Hays calls, fondly, a "haphazard set of notes," is indicative of the role of philosophy among the ancients in that it is "expected to provide a 'design for living.'" And it does, both aphoristically ("Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.") and rhetorically ("What is it in ourselves that we should prize?"). Whether these, and other entries ("Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life.") sound life-changing or like entries in a teenager's diary is up to the individual reader, as it should be. Hays's introduction, which sketches the life of Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome A.D. 161-180) as well as the basic tenets of stoicism, is accessible and jaunty. --H. O'Billovich --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
?The emperor Marcus Aurelius, the proverbial philosopher-king, produced in Greek a Roman manual of piety, the Meditations, whose impact has been felt for ages since. Here, for our age, is his great work presented in its entirety, strongly introduced and freshly, elegantly translated by Gregory Hays for the Modern Library.?
?Robert Fagles -- Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
'He has provided Farquharson's text with a lucid introduction, a select bibliography and light but helpful annotation. His selection of letters brings both Fronto and Marcus pleasingly to life.' Times Literary Supplement --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

other editions
comments
reviews
notes