Meditations
The Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
- Attributed to
- Marcus Aurelius
- Translated by
- George Long
- Chapters
- 12
- This translation
- 1862
Free of copyright worldwide. The translator died in 1879, and this translation was published in 1862. Even under the longest copyright term in the world — the author's life plus 100 years, which applies in Mexico — the text has been free since 1980. Source scan
Every chapter is free to read in Taoist Diary, with no account and no ads. Listening — the narrated chapters and the daily audio — is the subscription, at $1.99 a month.
How it opens
From my grandfather Verus [I learned] good morals and the government of my temper.
Meditations · Book One · translated by George Long
Before you start
- Is Meditations free to read?
- Yes — all 12 chapters, with no account and no ads. George Long's translation is out of copyright worldwide, so there is nothing to buy in order to read it. The paid part of Taoist Diary is listening: the narrated chapters and the daily audio, at $1.99 a month.
- Which translation is this?
- George Long's, published in 1862. It is not modernised, paraphrased or trimmed — the sentences are his. The scan it was taken from is linked above, so any line here can be checked against it.
- How long is it?
- 12 chapters, listed in full below — Book One through Book Twelve. Most are short enough to read in a sitting, which is how the app serves them: one at a time, one a day.
Read closely: what we've written about Meditations
The 12 chapters
- 1Book One
- 2Book Two
- 3Book Three
- 4Book Four
- 5Book Five
- 6Book Six
- 7Book Seven
- 8Book Eight
- 9Book Nine
- 10Book Ten
- 11Book Eleven
- 12Book Twelve