6 ms·

You can download Marcus Aurelius' Meditations for free at my project, Standard Ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/marcus-aurelius/meditations/george-long

by acabal 9y ago

You can download Marcus Aurelius' Meditations for free at my project, Standard Ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/marcus-aurelius/meditations/george-long https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/marcus-aurelius/meditation... The translation is good and Meditations is one of my favorite books. Super interesting to get an inside look at how the most powerful man in the world used Stoicism to deal with both the weight of an empire, and with day-to-day trivialities. The Enchiridion is another Stoic "manual" that's very short and just as good: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/epictetus/the-enchiridion/elizabeth-carter https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/epictetus/the-enchiridion/...

agumonkey 9y ago
anybody here was surprised realizing how much of life was known to people 2000 years ago, and no matter what the society and technology .. these ideas do matter
- ams6110 9y ago
  The people then were the same human species as today, and there's no reason to think that they understood human nature any less (in fact I think people today have a lot of trouble understanding human nature).
  - agumonkey 9y ago
    sure, but how many have this feeling that we're progressing, we're modern, we have everything but still some very important notions are hidden in antique books in your library
  - posterboy 9y ago
    whats two thousand years to a species of over a hundred thousand? even considering the time from the last ice age only, the relative difference is that of an 8 to 10 year old. yet, it is astounding nevertheless.
phren0logy 9y ago
For what it's worth, the Hays translation of Meditations is much easier reading.
- flatline 9y ago
  I also like Robin Hard's translation quite a bit.
  - ashark 9y ago
    I surveyed a bunch of translations a few years back, comparing them to one another and to the original Greek, trying to find the best accuracy/readability balance. Landed on Maxwell Staniforth's. There's a paperback available from someone (Penguin?) and it's the translation the Folio Society used for their Meditations, if you're into above-average-quality hardbacks.
- kucher12 9y ago
  Totally agree, thats Modern Library publication.
mostafah 9y ago
Off-topic, but I’m a big fan of your project. It’s an important work. Kudos for doing it so well.
- chrisrickard 9y ago
  Agreed, it's fantastic. A little thing, would like to browse/filter by categories (or maybe see popular books).
jxramos 9y ago
This is quite a project, I'm very much impressed especially after having discovered the severe limitations and leaving much to be desired of the project guttenberg content https://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/7438/how-does-project-gutenberg-structure-their-epubs https://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/7438/how-does-pro.... I very much like the "technically minded reader" orientation you all espouse.
miles 9y ago
Don't confine yourself to Epictetus' Enchiridion; his Discourses are a delight, especially as translated by Oldfather: Books I & II: https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour01epicuoft https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour01epicuoft Books III & IV: https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour02epicuoft https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour02epicuoft
michaelsbradley 9y ago
For those who may be interested: Fr. Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J.[1] (d. 1616) has sometimes been called a "Christian Seneca".[2] I had never heard of him or his major work Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues until 2004, when someone I met on a retreat recommended that I hunt down a copy of Joseph Rickaby's[3] masterful translation from the original Spanish.[4] I had the opportunity to read through PPCV over the period of about a year back in 2007–08, and I can only say that it leaves a remarkable and lasting impression. I would think his treatises on humility, examination of conscience, and mental prayer (meditation) would be of great interest even to those who aren't particularly religious — i.e. the practical wisdom contained therein is like a toolkit for coming to "know oneself" for true. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Rodriguez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Rodriguez [2] http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2540029 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2540029 [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rickaby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rickaby [4] https://archive.org/details/PPCV-Manresa https://archive.org/details/PPCV-Manresa
tostr 9y ago
There is also a youtube video by the same guy that wrote the article. I found it to be quite interesting (much of the points in the video are the same as in the article, maybe in a little more depth). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLLJP3H1FU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLLJP3H1FU

by acabal 9y ago

agumonkey 9y ago

anybody here was surprised realizing how much of life was known to people 2000 years ago, and no matter what the society and technology .. these ideas do matter

ams6110 9y ago
The people then were the same human species as today, and there's no reason to think that they understood human nature any less (in fact I think people today have a lot of trouble understanding human nature).
- agumonkey 9y ago
  sure, but how many have this feeling that we're progressing, we're modern, we have everything but still some very important notions are hidden in antique books in your library
- posterboy 9y ago
  whats two thousand years to a species of over a hundred thousand? even considering the time from the last ice age only, the relative difference is that of an 8 to 10 year old. yet, it is astounding nevertheless.

phren0logy 9y ago

For what it's worth, the Hays translation of Meditations is much easier reading.

flatline 9y ago
I also like Robin Hard's translation quite a bit.
- ashark 9y ago
  I surveyed a bunch of translations a few years back, comparing them to one another and to the original Greek, trying to find the best accuracy/readability balance. Landed on Maxwell Staniforth's. There's a paperback available from someone (Penguin?) and it's the translation the Folio Society used for their Meditations, if you're into above-average-quality hardbacks.
kucher12 9y ago
Totally agree, thats Modern Library publication.

mostafah 9y ago

Off-topic, but I’m a big fan of your project. It’s an important work. Kudos for doing it so well.

chrisrickard 9y ago
Agreed, it's fantastic. A little thing, would like to browse/filter by categories (or maybe see popular books).

jxramos 9y ago

This is quite a project, I'm very much impressed especially after having discovered the severe limitations and leaving much to be desired of the project guttenberg content https://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/7438/how-does-project-gutenberg-structure-their-epubs https://ebooks.stackexchange.com/questions/7438/how-does-pro.... I very much like the "technically minded reader" orientation you all espouse.

miles 9y ago

Don't confine yourself to Epictetus' Enchiridion; his Discourses are a delight, especially as translated by Oldfather: Books I & II: https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour01epicuoft https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour01epicuoft Books III & IV: https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour02epicuoft https://archive.org/details/epictetusdiscour02epicuoft

michaelsbradley 9y ago

For those who may be interested: Fr. Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J.[1] (d. 1616) has sometimes been called a "Christian Seneca".[2] I had never heard of him or his major work Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues until 2004, when someone I met on a retreat recommended that I hunt down a copy of Joseph Rickaby's[3] masterful translation from the original Spanish.[4] I had the opportunity to read through PPCV over the period of about a year back in 2007–08, and I can only say that it leaves a remarkable and lasting impression. I would think his treatises on humility, examination of conscience, and mental prayer (meditation) would be of great interest even to those who aren't particularly religious — i.e. the practical wisdom contained therein is like a toolkit for coming to "know oneself" for true. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Rodriguez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Rodriguez [2] http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2540029 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2540029 [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rickaby http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Rickaby [4] https://archive.org/details/PPCV-Manresa https://archive.org/details/PPCV-Manresa

tostr 9y ago

There is also a youtube video by the same guy that wrote the article. I found it to be quite interesting (much of the points in the video are the same as in the article, maybe in a little more depth). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLLJP3H1FU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seLLJP3H1FU