Meditations - a Roman emperor's private journal, not a book

Meditations isn’t really a “book”. It was clearly written more as a kind of mantra or journal for Marcus Aurelius, so don’t expect consistent quality and coherence throughout if you choose to read it. I picked it up because it’s a very hyped book. It landed at 3/5 for me.

The introduction did a really great job of explaining how we even have this work to read. Honestly, I found the book interesting from a history perspective even more than from a philosophy perspective.

Saying that, it was really fun to relate with someone from thousands of years ago over common struggles like getting out of a warm bed in the morning. And one idea did stick: his line that you have power over your mind, not outside events (paraphrasing). That’s maybe the only bit I’ve held onto since.

Overall there are some interesting thoughts here and I’m glad I read it. But ultimately it was a slog to get through, and the ideas are much more accessible in modern works. If you want the Stoic ideas without the slog, something like Designing the Mind will get you there with far less effort.

Who is Meditations actually for, then? Only people who read a lot anyway and want the real historical perspective, the novelty of an emperor’s private notes. If you read only ten books a year, this shouldn’t be one of them. It’s slow, and not as rewarding.