Meditations (Dover Thrift Editions)

One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent. The book, which Hays calls, fondly, a "haphazard set of notes," is indicative of the role of philosophy among the ancients in that it is "expected to provide a 'design for living.'" And it does, both aphoristically ("Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what's left and live it properly.") and rhetorically ("What is it in ourselves that we should prize?"). Whether these, and other entries ("Enough of this wretched, whining monkey life.") sound life-changing or like entries in a teenager's diary is up to the individual reader, as it should be. Hays's introduction, which sketches the life of Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome A.D. 161-180) as well as the basic tenets of stoicism, is accessible and jaunty. --H. O'Billovich

• Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics)
• On The Shortness Of Life
• Discourses and Selected Writings (Penguin Classics)
• Enchiridion (Dover Thrift Editions)
• The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
• On the Shortness of Life: Life Is Long if You Know How to Use It (Penguin Great Ideas)
• A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
• The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
• The Essential Marcus Aurelius (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)
• Discourses, Fragments, Handbook (Oxford Worlds Classics)