First, thank you to my friend Claire Young for recommending this book to me, and to my sister for giving it to me as a Christmas present.
It is quite a decent book. The only other book whose "literary style" is close to Meditations is perhaps How to Be a Gentleman, which is another great read for everyone. The thing I thought most interesting was that this must be the closest thing to having a conversation with and listening to the personal thoughts of someone who lived virtually two thousand years ago. It is thus interesting to see how those thoughts are so similar to and could very well be those of a person who is alive today. I do not think I read in it any idea that was revolutionarily new to me, but I did like how many things it contained with which I did agree. I was happy to learn about stoicism and, to a lesser extent, about cynicism and epicureanism. I was surprised to see that I agreed with stoicism to a lesser extent than I had previously believed—this I say not having ever formally learnt anything about it before. One of the "chapters" I liked most was:
"Practise even at the things that you have lost all hope of achieving. For the left hand, though inefficient at everything else through lack of practice, is more powerful than the right when it comes to gripping the bridle; for it has had good practice at that."
(Aurelius, M. Meditations. p. 148. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Oxford University Press, 2011).
And there was another "chapter" that made me think of people who have been victims of HIV stigma:
"[I]n other words, let it judge nothing to be good or bad if it can happen to a good person or bad without distinction."
(Aurelius, M. Meditations. p. 64. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Oxford University Press, 2011).
Not that I believe that there are "good" people and "bad" people. But if something can happen to anyone, do not judge them for what has befallen them.
There are indeed many other ideas that are very much worthy of consideration and discussion, so do read this book of you are looking for some guidance or reassurance. Now, my book came with a selection of letters between Marcus Aurelius and Fronto, one of his eighteen tutors. They are an excellent complement that allows us to take a further look into Marcus Aurelius's mind and life. There are some people who think that Marcus Aurelius and Fronto had a homoerotic relationship. What do I think having read those letters? It is hard to tell. Yes, there are certain letters that had me convinced that they must have had a romantic relationship. But having read all of the thirty-one letters included in my book, I was left thinking: "Well, maybe they were simply truly very good friends". I do not know. Perhaps the reason I am inclined to dismiss their affectionate style in the letters is because Marcus Aurelius did make a couple of homophobic remarks in Meditations, which was not intended for publication, it was simply his personal record of thoughts. I guess, I am unable to form a verdict having only read this book. Maybe if I read more about his life and work I would be better able to form an opinion with regard to his relationship with Fronto.
