'The Meditations is a work I disliked for its flaccid piety and self-concern from the time I read it years ago. No translation does the Emperor's Meditations better or nobler justice.' J osiah Bunting II Superintendent, Virginia Military Institute 'Timeless, magnificent, simple: the essential book on character, leadership, duty. Americans should read Marcus and this new edition now makes it a joy.' Victor Davis Hanson, Professor of Classics at California State University

'This new, accessible translation by Scot and David Hicks of the emperor's famous Stoic handbook reflects far better the flavor of Marcus Aurelius's own style. This is a fantastic achievement.' Steve Forbes With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.'A must read for business leaders. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. In Gregory Hays’s new translation-the first in thirty-five years-Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago. Marcus’s insights and advice-on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others-have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.

A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.įew ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D.

Meditations a new translation