Patience and long-term thinking
Be not as one that hath ten thousand years to live; death is nigh at hand: while thou livest, while thou hast time, be good.
— Marcus Aurelius (121–180), Meditations, Book IV, 17 (George Long translation), as given in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (1919)

Patience and long-term thinking

What it means

Life is finite, and postponing the good we intend to do assumes time we may not have. Marcus Aurelius urges acting well now rather than someday.

About the author

Marcus Aurelius — Stoic philosopher, Roman emperor from 161 to 180.

Source and verification

Source
Meditations, Book IV, 17 (George Long translation), as given in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (1919)
Reference
Marcus Aurelius on Wikiquote
Checked
Wording and source taken from the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page, which cites the work given here (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright
Public domain: an ancient work.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

More on patience and long-term thinking

“It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it.”

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“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”

Charles Darwin

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”

Leo Tolstoy