Meditations – Marcus Aurelius

'The Meditations' is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, in 12 short chapters called 'books'. It was written in the 70s of the II century AD, mostly during the Emperor's campaigns in Central Europe, at the north-east border of the Roman Empire and in Sirmium. In essence, it is a rethink of the philosophy of Epictetus, often quoted in the book: it is useless to attempt to change the world to suit one's needs, one should accept calmly and dispassionately whatever is destined to happen, and every lot is good in its own way. United States President Bill Clinton said that 'The Meditations' was his favorite book, and former United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis carried his own personal copy of 'The Meditations' of Marcus Aurelius throughout his deployments as a Marine Corps officer in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus is one of the prominent philosophers, alongside Seneca, Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Socrates, Machiavelli and others.