Marcus Aurelius's Dream

Publisher's presentation

Through the continued success of Thoughts for Myself, a book that has helped millions of readers live, the figure of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180), popularized by Ridley Scott's cult film Gladiator, challenges us: how did the leader of one of the world's greatest empires maintain serenity amid the tumult of wars, betrayals, epidemics, and natural disasters that shook his reign for nearly two decades? The answer lies in the philosophy he was trained in at a very young age and for which he felt a deep passion: Stoicism. Frédéric Lenoir paints a moving yet uncompromising portrait of Marcus Aurelius, a sometimes inflexible emperor but a sensitive and tormented man who aspired to become a better person and to be useful to the world. He also introduces us to the great keys to Stoic thought and Thoughts for Myself: the universe is like a great living being where everything is interdependent; good and evil exist only in moral intention and not in external events; freedom and joy reside in the loving acceptance of our destiny; it is not reality that makes us happy or unhappy, but the representation we have of it; the pursuit of individual happiness must always be linked to concern for the common good... So many themes that answer the essential questions we ask ourselves about the meaning of life and the possibility of maintaining inner peace in a troubled world.

Flammarion, November 13, 2024 – 288 pages
EAN: 9782080422095
ISBN: 208042209X