Meditations
Meditations by Marcus Aureliusby Marcus Aurelius
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 30 philosophy books by recommenders
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.
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.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 17
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 17 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy, approachable read
“An easy read that dives into stoicism, a similar mindset, within the context of running the Roman Empire.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Making Peace with Your Unlived Dreams” “reading just one of his entries doesn't leave you with a lifetime commitment to stoicism”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?” “Meditations is also a decent read.”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “The Enchiridion by Epictetus” Interesting, enjoyable individual musings
“I've found many of the individual musings to be quite interesting.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” “Marcus Aurelius meditations also great”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: What changed in your life when you started meditating (and how)?” “Meditations by Aurelius is amazing.”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Ancient Library – 1,060 Greek/Latin texts, click any word to parse it” Practical leadership and hardship lessons
“its a great insight into how he thought about ruling and how he was trying to be a better person/leader”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Marcus Aurelius Had Anxiety Too – Stoicism for People Who Overthink” “mostly related to better ways of dealing with everyday hardships”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Why Stoicism is one of the best mind hacks ever devised”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not cohesive as a whole
“It's not cohesive at all.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?”
Other philosophy books people recommend
The four most recommended other philosophy books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tao Te Chingby Laozi | 32 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceby Robert Pirsig | 24 | 3 | 89% | 9 | 44 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Meditationsby Marcus AureliusThis page | 17 | 4 | 81% | 8 | — | Approved |
| I Am a Strange Loopby Douglas Hofstadter | 16 | 1 | 94% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Simulacra and Simulationby Jean Baudrillard | 12 | 3 | 80% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
19 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Meditations by Aurelius is amazing.”
“I have been a big fan of Stoicism 2.0 by Marcus Aurelius”
“It really centers me and feels refreshing to break away from everything”
“Marcus Aurelius meditations also great”
“Meditations by Marcus Arailius is a good one”
“Meditations is largely Marcus Aurelius soothing himself with logical arguments.”
“reading just one of his entries doesn't leave you with a lifetime commitment to stoicism”
“Maybe War of Art or Meditations still continue to sell.”
“An easy read that dives into stoicism, a similar mindset, within the context of running the Roman Empire.”
“its a great insight into how he thought about ruling and how he was trying to be a better person/leader”
“It helped reaffirm my focus on OSS as a channel for personal improvement”
“Meditations is also a decent read.”
“mostly related to better ways of dealing with everyday hardships”
“It's a bad book. It's hard to argue about it”
“I've found many of the individual musings to be quite interesting.”
“It's not cohesive at all.”
“which provides a lot of context”
“The Little Prince is no more "boomer" than, say, Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.”
“Stoicism does not bind the powerful, only the powerless.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.