What Does Self-Knowledge Look Like? Reading Marcus Aurelius
The Meditations of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are perhaps the best-selling self-help book of all time. Rooted in the rational philosophy of the Stoics, the 12 books offer a stream of personal musings on everything from cultivating self-discipline to being a successful leader.
Following their [episode on Resilience][1], Nadia, Keir and Jem offer a weird-left perspective on the Meditations, looking at their influence on western thought and current popularity among tech bros and the alt-right.
Translations abound, but the George Long translation is freely available [from MIT][2].
Follow our [Spotify playlist][3] of all the music discussed on ACFM and subscribe to the [ACFM mailing list][4] to get weirder and leftier.
[1]: https://novaramedia.com/2026/06/28/are-you-resilient-enough-to-face-the-future/
[2]: https://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html
[3]: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wv61PS6qItwCBUluNcSFx
[4]: http://novara.media/ACFMnewsletter
https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/12/what-does-self-knowledge-look-like-reading-marcus-aurelius/
