Who was Marcus Aurelius?

People often refer to people in positions of power as evil, rotten and corrupt. I know I tend to. And to be fair, this analysis has its merits. There are and were a lot of people in positions of power who were or are greedy, selfish and in a sense, terrible.

Marcus Aurelius is different. 

This man was born in A.D 121 and was the Roman Emperor for about 20 years. Raised by his Grandfather. He became the emperor of Rome kinda by accident and was arguably the most powerful person in the world in the year(sih) 160-180 AD.

During his last decade or so of life, as emperor, Marcus began to write down things. Most of these things consisted of his ideas and thoughts about the world. He explains to us how to avoid pain, how to live a good meaningful life and how to handle tragic situations. Marcus never intended these words to be published or shared. This adds to the sincerity and rawness of this book.

As I read this book, my admiration for Marcus is ever so great. Here we have an extremely powerful man but ever so humble, loving and caring for everyone around him. With all his stressors, including war, politics, death, betrayal and peer pressure, his words can be applied to anyone and everyone who are found in this world.