Apparently this is General James Mattis's favourite book, and he carries a copy with him everywhere

Yeah, Mediterranean dark.

How would he even get opium?

It's basically his diary about how he doesn't give a fuck about silly stuff.

I guess "seeing Commodus as the piece of shit he is" was categorized under "silly stuff."

The problem with military men is that they seldom have an original thought and despise unorthodoxy.

Currently reading it. Maybe it's because I'm not a native English speaker, but I find it to be quite hard to understand what he means at times. It's actually pretty good as far as I know.

Why would you read it in english if you're not a native english speaker? Just read a translation in your language.

Also, fuck Commodus, right?

I'm reading it in the English version because I want to improve my English, and the versions don't seem to be entirely the same.

And I guess Commodus is an arsehole, but I have not yet gotten to that part.

He's pretty much a proto-fedora.

I'm not sure it's the best choice for someone who wants to improve his english, but I can understand. What's your native language if you don't mind me asking?

He doesn't really talk about Commodus in his meditations, we just know he's an asshole.

Dutch. And yeah I can see why it might not be the best way to improve English, since at least the version I am reading is quite heavy on the old-fashioned language, with things such as "thy" and "thou"

>I only ask because I met someone in real life who looked like how Marcus Aurelius does in his statues. With the dark curly hair and beard along with a stoic and cold expression.

>be dutch
>learn English from old books
>good day maiden, how ist thou?
>they all look at me like im strange
>wtf

I wonder if this ever happens

My grandfather apparently got most of his English skills by having an old Dutch and an old English bible, and trying to learn English through the both of them. When the Americans came along during the war, they had a good laugh at his attempts, and helped him improve a bit.

Whiny Crybaby Faggot: THE BOOK

He was the emperor of a huge percentage of the world's population, yet he was doing his duty sitting in a tent on the edge of a bog in Slovakia. This book is his attempt to reconcile his mortality as a man who would soon die with his rulership.

>Also, fuck Commodus, right?

So you sayin'...

Has some excellent passages but I skimmed over most of the parts about 'being apart of the divine Whole' or the logos. Never really understood that part of Stoicism.

It's also an extremely difficult philosophy to implement in your actual life; which is probably why he had to constantly exhort himself to follow it.

Sometimes.

Marcus Aurelius' family was from Spain.
Whether that means he is an ethnic Spaniard or Latin who knows, but his looks might not therefore be in line with modern Italians.

Isn't that all philosophy?

Y'all jealous of Commodus. He was a good emperor, He was worried about the people and not the crocked senate.

He looks like he's had enough of everyone's shit.

Stoics believed in Providence f a m

Listened to it on audio-book because of curiosity. Surprisingly good, well worth a read or listen.
Don't mind the memes, you're obviously interested so just give it a go. I promise it will worth it. You don't have to become a Stoic but its a cheap/free and working self improvement.

When your son plays dress up in front of all of Rome you get tired of shit quickly.

Was it autism?

Mattie's letter to soldiers "too busy to read" pt 1
….The problem with being too busy to read is that you learn by experience (or by your men’s
experience), i.e. the hard way. By reading, you learn through others’ experiences, generally a
better way to do business, especially in our line of work where the consequences of
incompetence are so final for young men.

Thanks to my reading, I have never been caught flat-footed by any situation, never at a loss for
how any problem has been addressed (successfully or unsuccessfully) before. It doesn’t give
me all the answers, but it lights what is often a dark path ahead.

With TF 58, I had w/ me Slim’s book, books about the Russian and British experiences in AFG,
and a couple others. Going into Iraq, “The Siege” (about the Brits’ defeat at Al Kut in WW I) was
req’d reading for field grade officers. I also had Slim’s book; reviewed T.E. Lawrence’s “Seven
Pillars of Wisdom”; a good book about the life of Gertrude Bell (the Brit archaeologist who
virtually founded the modern Iraq state in the aftermath of WW I and the fall of the Ottoman
empire); and “From Beirut to Jerusalem”. I also went deeply into Liddell Hart’s book on
Sherman, and Fuller’s book on Alexander the Great got a lot of my attention (although I never
imagined that my HQ would end up only 500 meters from where he lay in state in Babylon).

Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face NOTHING new under the sun.
For all the “4th Generation of War” intellectuals running around today saying that the nature of
war has fundamentally changed, the tactics are wholly new, etc, I must respectfully say… “Not
really”: Alex the Great would not be in the least bit perplexed by the enemy that we face right
now in Iraq, and our leaders going into this fight do their troops a disservice by not studying
(studying, vice just reading) the men who have gone before us.

Pt 2:
We have been fighting on this planet for 5000 years and we should take advantage of their
experience. “Winging it” and filling body bags as we sort out what works reminds us of the
moral dictates and the cost of incompetence in our profession. As commanders and staff
officers, we are coaches and sentries for our units: how can we coach anything if we don’t
know a hell of a lot more than just the TTPs? What happens when you’re on a dynamic
battlefield and things are changing faster than higher HQ can stay abreast? Do you not
adapt because you cannot conceptualize faster than the enemy’s adaptation? (Darwin has
a pretty good theory about the outcome for those who cannot adapt to changing
circumstance — in the information age things can change rather abruptly and at warp
speed, especially the moral high ground which our regimented thinkers cede far too quickly
in our recent fights.) And how can you be a sentinel and not have your unit caught
flat-footed if you don’t know what the warning signs are — that your unit’s preps are not
sufficient for the specifics of a tasking that you have not anticipated?

Perhaps if you are in support functions waiting on the warfighters to spell out the specifics of
what you are to do, you can avoid the consequences of not reading. Those who must adapt to
overcoming an independent enemy’s will are not allowed that luxury.

Pt 3:
This is not new to the USMC approach to warfighting — Going into Kuwait 12 years ago, I
read (and reread) Rommel’s Papers (remember “Kampstaffel”?), Montgomery’s book (“Eyes
Officers”…), “Grant Takes Command” (need for commanders to get along, “commanders’
relationships” being more important than “command relationships”), and some others. As a
result, the enemy has paid when I had the opportunity to go against them, and I believe that
many of my young guys lived because I didn’t waste their lives because I didn’t have the vision
in my mind of how to destroy the enemy at least cost to our guys and to the innocents on the
battlefields.

Hope this answers your question…. I will cc my ADC in the event he can add to this. He is the
only officer I know who has read more than I.

Semper Fi, Mattis

>learning English from Roman philosophy translations

Mate you're going to end up speaking like a fucking Autist

except the best military men CREATE the orthodoxy.

It's also Bill Clinton's favorite book of all time.

Just because someone likes it doesn't mean you should. Read everything you can and decide for yourself what is good.

But, yes, MEDITATIONS is fucking great. Keep in mind that it wasn't written for a general audience, rather for Marcus to reflect on his actions.

Did you even read it?

yes, atleast twice

there is some nice content there. i was being somewhat facetious

Obviously. I can see three people who have hair texture like him here.

>His son
>his

>Martin Heidegger
The absolute state of Veeky Forums. At least normalfags are dumb enough to believe Bill Gates actually invented something.