Free classics · c. 180
Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
The private notebook of a Roman emperor, written to steady himself, read for two thousand years by anyone trying to do the same.
- to read
- 5 h
- to read
- at 20 min a day
- 16 days
- at 20 min a day
- public domain
- Free
- public domain
What it’s about
Marcus Aurelius never meant anyone to read this. He wrote it in short entries, often on campaign, reminding himself how to act well when people are difficult, when work is hard and when life feels short.
There is no plot, so you can open it anywhere. Most entries are a few lines long, which makes it one of the best books to read a little at a time.
- Self-discipline
- Accepting what you can't control
- Kindness to difficult people
Why people stop, and how to finish
The free English edition is old-fashioned, full of thee and thou, and the twelve books repeat their big ideas many times. People start strong and drift by book three.
What helps: Read one numbered entry a day, not a chapter. If a passage is hard going, read it in modern English or your own language, then go back to the original.
At 20 minutes a day you’ll reach the last page in about 16 days.
Finish Meditations with Librai.
Download the free EPUB from Project Gutenberg, open it in Librai, then read it the way that works for you.
Read it in your language
Turn the page you're on into Hindi, Spanish, Arabic or one of 24 languages, sentence by sentence. Tap to see the original.
Listen to it
Apple's natural voices read it aloud and light up every word, even with your phone locked.
Ask when you're lost
Who is this again? What just happened? Ask, and get an answer from what you've read so far, never a spoiler.
Read First
A few lines of the book before the apps you scroll too much. A page here, a page there, and it's finished.