How to Think Clearly?

3 timeless lessons that Stoicism helps to declutter your mind.

Harshal Murkute
6 min readSep 8, 2020

At the age of 17 Marcus Aurelius was adopted, he was made heir to the throne of Rome. Born into a wealthy family, Aurelius was primarily raised in a household of his grandfather. From the start his defining characteristic was in pursuit of knowledge, he was drawn to philosophy and he was particularly interested in Stoicism.

According to legend, the old Emperor Hadrian took notice of him after a close up with death, and impressed with a young Aurelius, Hadrian adopted him into his line of succession. Aurelius upheld his duty to the state for over 20 years, through the death of Hadrian and throughout the rule of Antoninus Pius, until the day he became the Emperor of Rome.

Meditations is one of the influential works of stoicism.There isn’t much left to be said about it that hasn’t been said before. It’s a timeless manual for living a balanced life. More than the philosophy, however, it also gives us insight into the clarity with which Marius Aurelius thought. He very much saw the world as it was rather than as he hoped it would be. That may not sound like an accomplishment, but it’s rarer than most of us would like to think. The application of this kind of awareness pays dividend in every aspect of life and we can dissect Aurelius story to break down how…

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Harshal Murkute

I write about strategies and tools that help live happier, healthier, more productive lives. Linktree — https://linktr.ee/harshalm