Beyond the Quotes

A Short Guide to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations

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A free guide for readers about to begin, currently reading, or returning to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations.

A line from Marcus Aurelius can seem complete when it circulates on its own. Return to the full passage, and you can see the question he was trying to answer, and sometimes a meaning different from the one the quotation suggests.

Beyond the Quotes introduces the unusual form of the Meditations, helps you recognize three recurring Stoic exercises, and revisits ten hasty readings, several built around Marcus’s most quoted lines. It also introduces the people he thanks in Book I and suggests where to read next.

• Download PDF For reading on a phone or computer.
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To read on Kindle, download the EPUB and send it using the Kindle app or Amazon’s Send to Kindle page. To read on a phone or computer, choose the PDF.