# Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

17 Hacker News commenters recommended Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an easy read on Stoicism and how Marcus Aurelius thought about ruling and self-improvement; the common caveat is that it is not cohesive.

## Why people recommend it

- Easy, approachable read (3 comments): "An easy read that dives into stoicism, a similar mindset, within the context of running the Roman Empire." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48441632)) "reading just one of his entries doesn't leave you with a lifetime commitment to stoicism" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48569137)) "Meditations is also a decent read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46781921))
- Interesting, enjoyable individual musings (3 comments): "I've found many of the individual musings to be quite interesting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46396863)) "Marcus Aurelius meditations also great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49014596)) "Meditations by Aurelius is amazing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49218596))
- Practical leadership and hardship lessons (2 comments): "its a great insight into how he thought about ruling and how he was trying to be a better person/leader" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48352592)) "mostly related to better ways of dealing with everyday hardships" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46614989))

## What people warn about

- Not cohesive as a whole (1 comments): "It's not cohesive at all." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46392018))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Tao Te Ching by Laozi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tao-te-ching-translated.md): 32 recommend
- [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.md): 24 recommend
- [I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/i-am-a-strange-loop.md): 16 recommend
- [Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simulacra-and-simulation.md): 12 recommend
- [The Republic by Plato](https://hackerapproved.com/p/republic.md): 11 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1986857824?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781986857826) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Meditations by Marcus Aurelius", https://hackerapproved.com/p/meditations/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).