The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

This Classic is a library of proverbs and thoughts by the Great Marcus Aurielus…just get it and read a few…you’ll ponder your ways and consider your purpose and align your discipline…so will your teen!

I am a fan of stoicism and found this book inciteful. Helpful for those of us hoping to improve the ulity of our inner lives.

Hadot's study of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is undoubtedly the best educational discussion of one of the most underrated philosophers in history. A text like Meditations deserves a dedicated scholarly (but readable) supplement and Hadot has delivered it to us some thousand and a half years later.Hadot's believes that the Meditations were not simply notes Marcus wrote to himself but rather a series of cognitive techniques practiced by many Stoics. He calls them "Imaginative Exercises." For example, there is the practice of "turning an obstacle upside down." Suppose you are helping someone (a virtue) and they make that difficult by being surly or unwilling to cooperate: patience and understanding. With this logic, there is rarely an excuse to ever find yourself at a philosophical impasse and is the epitome of Stoicism's adaptability.Rather than think of Meditations as little bits of wisdom that Marcus jotted down, Hadot says, we should think of them a personal study of the tenets of Stoicism. Marcus is practicing what he has been taught as opposed to doing the teaching himself. This is a new interpretation as most other biographers have gotten caught up in comparing Marcus's actions and his words - analyzing whether or not he was a hypocrite, a drug addict, a warrior or an enfeebled emperor.In Hadot's book we not only get a deep understanding of Marcus but we can see the love the author has for his subject. Hadot, through his discussion of Marcus, manages to also give the reader one of the best books on Epictetus and Seneca. His original translations of all three authors are welcome additions to the canon for the group. In short, if you liked Meditations or are researching the great Marcus Aurelius, this book is THE book on the topic. Starting anywhere else would be a waste of time.

I bought it for a friend. They seemed to enjoy it

If you are interested in Stoicism you must read this book. Hadot is a brilliant writer & teacher. Book’s subtitle references “Meditations of M. Aurelius” but Hadot covers much more. Meditations is the framework, but Inner Citadel weaves all the threads that influenced or explain Stoic philosophy: Epictetus, Seneca, etc., but even Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Descartes. After Inner Citadel, I feel like I understand things I’d read but didn’t appreciate. Inner Citadel now in list of top 10 books I ever read. Would give 6 stars if I could !

I am not familiar with any other books by Hadot, but this one is phenomenal. He takes a rather terse subject and presents it in a very clear manner by breaking the philosophy down into three major components. He then dedicates a chapter to each component while giving many examples from Aurelius, but also, and this is one of the great parts, from Epictetus and Seneca. Hadot's choice of the translations of the ancient works tend to be the more user friendly versions, if one reads reviews of different translations of Meditations on Amazon, one finds that some are horribly dry and complex. (i.e. poor translations exist)Hadot also takes the time to outline the development of Stoic philosophy, tracing the teacher/student relation through a few generations. He makes a point to explain to the reader the circumstances in which Meditations was written, why it was written, and for whom it was written. All of these are important aspects to consider when one wants to understand the books more fully. Hadot also takes the time to give examples of how this ancient school of thought can be implemented in the modern world (although that is not the point of this book, as there are others which focus on that topic more exclusively.)If you have any interest in understanding Meditations, or any interest in Stoic philosophy, then this book is a must read.

My introduction to Stoicism was through The Practicing Stoic by Ward Farnsworth—which is excellent BTW. I’ve read numerous other books on Stoicism by other authors and the classics by Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and others. All that said, I was pleasantly surprised at how well written this book is and how it clearly and methodically walks the reader through Stoic concepts that make so much more sense to me now. Anyone wishing to understand Stoicism should read this book.

This book has given me the inspiration to really dig into the Meditations with and open mind to learn more about this great Stoic philosophy from a man whose greatest attributes were his self awareness and willingness to improve.