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Interview with Marcus Aurelius

The Roman emperor sits down with host Zoe to explain his private notebook, Meditations, written between battles around 170 to 180 AD. The best ideas of the book in five minutes, plus his ongoing war with his blanket.

The ideas in this episode

1. 🌅Expect difficult people at dawnThey don't know good from bad, and they are still your kin.2.1
2. 🛏️Get out of bedWere you born to lie under the covers, or to do something?5.1
3. 🧠Your judgment is what hurtsTake away the opinion "I am harmed" and the harm is gone.4.7
4. 🚧The obstacle becomes the wayA fire turns whatever you throw on it into more flame.5.20 · 4.1
5. 💬The best revengeIs not to become like the people who wronged you.6.6 · 2.13
6. 🏖️Retreat into yourselfNowhere is quieter than your own mind.4.3
7. 🌍The view from aboveAlexander the Great and his mule driver ended up in the same place.6.24
8. ⏳The present is all anyone hasNo one can lose the past or the future.2.14
9. 🙏List what you oweBook 1 is thank-you notes to the people who shaped him.1.1 · 1.3
10. ⚖️Stop arguing, be goodDo the thing in front of you as if it were your last.10.16 · 2.5

The cast