When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Marcus Aurelius Elbert Hubbard

Misattributed

No. Elbert Hubbard wrote it, not Aurelius.

The closest real passage, shown below, is found word for word by program in the Greek original and in George Long’s English translation (1862); the shared line is not in it.

Checked against Elbert Hubbard, ‘The New Thought’, The Fra: A Journal of Affirmation, vol. 12, no. 6 (East Aurora, N.Y.: The Roycrofters, March 1914), section ‘Epictetus and Aurelius’, p. 171, on a page scan.

Closest passage
Meditations (180), Book 5, section 1, opening (a related genuine passage, not the circulating quotation)
Source
Elbert Hubbard, ‘The New Thought’, The Fra: A Journal of Affirmation, vol. 12, no. 6 (East Aurora, N.Y.: The Roycrofters, March 1914), section ‘Epictetus and Aurelius’, p. 171
Checked
On a page scan

Researched by AI; closest passage located by program on 31 October 2026. Entry updated 23 October 2026. Editorial review: pending. How we check

Where you would expect it

The closest real passage: Meditations, Book 5, section 1, opening (a related genuine passage, not the circulating quotation). The shared line is not in it.

¶110 en¶156 el

[…] For such a purpose frees a man from trouble, and warfare, and all artifice and ostentatious display.

Ἐπὶ τὴν σύντομον ἀεὶ τρέχε· σύντομος δὲ ἡ κατὰ φύσιν, ὥστε κατὰ τὸ ὑγιέστατον πᾶν λέγειν καὶ πράσσειν. ἀπαλλάσσει γὰρ ἡ τοιαύτη πρόθεσις κόπων καὶ στραγγείας καὶ πάσης οἰκονομίας καὶ κομψείας.

¶112 en¶158 el
English, George Long, 1862

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present⁠—I am rising to the work of a human being.1 Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world? […]

Greek, the original

Ὄρθρου, ὅταν δυσόκνως ἐξεγείρῃ, πρόχειρον ἔστω ὅτι ἐπὶ ἀνθρώπου ἔργον ἐγείρομαι· τί οὖν δυσκολαίνω, εἰ πορεύομαι ἐπὶ τὸ ποιεῖν ὧν ἕνεκεν γέγονα καὶ ὧν χάριν προῆγμαι εἰς τὸν κόσμον; ἢ ἐπὶ τοῦτο κατεσκεύασμαι, ἵνα κατακείμενος ἐν στρωματίοις ἐμαυτὸν θάλπω; ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἥδιον. πρὸς τὸ ἥδεσθαι οὖν γέγονας, ὅλως δὲ σὺ πρὸς πεῖσιν ἢ πρὸς ἐνέργειαν; οὐ βλέπεις τὰ φυτάρια, τὰ στρουθάρια, τοὺς μύρμηκας, τοὺς ἀράχνας, τὰς μελίσσας τὸ ἴδιον ποιούσας, τὸ καθ’ αὑτὰς συγκροτούσας κόσμον; ἔπειτα σὺ οὐ θέλεις τὰ ἀνθρωπικὰ ποιεῖν; οὐ τρέχεις ἐπὶ τὸ κατὰ τὴν σὴν φύσιν;

¶113 en¶159 el

How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility.

ἀλλὰ δεῖ καὶ ἀναπαύεσθαι. φημὶ κἀγώ· ἔδωκε μέντοι καὶ τούτου μέτρα ἡ φύσις καὶ τοῦ ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν καὶ ὅμως σὺ ὑπὲρ τὰ μέτρα, ὑπὲρ τὰ ἀρκοῦντα προχωρεῖς, ἐν δὲ ταῖς πράξεσιν οὐκέτι, ἀλλ’ ἐντὸς τοῦ δυνατοῦ. οὐ γὰρ φιλεῖς σεαυτόν, ἐπεί τοι καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἄν σου καὶ τὸ βούλημα ταύτης ἐφίλεις.

¶114 en¶160 el

Judge every word and deed which are according to nature to be fit for thee; and be not diverted by the blame which follows from any people nor by their words, but if a thing is good to be done or said, do not consider it unworthy of thee. […]

ἀλλ’ οἵ γε τὰς τέχνας ἑαυτῶν φιλοῦντες συγκατατήκονται τοῖς κατ’ αὐτὰς ἔργοις ἄλουτοι καὶ ἄσιτοι· σὺ τὴν φύσιν τὴν σαυτοῦ ἔλασσον τιμᾷς ἢ ὁ τορευτὴς τὴν τορευτικὴν ἢ ὁ ὀρχηστὴς τὴν ὀρχηστικὴν ἢ ὁ φιλάργυρος τὸ ἀργύριον ἢ ὁ κενόδοξος τὸ δοξάριον; καὶ οὗτοι, ὅταν προσπαθῶσιν, οὔτε φαγεῖν οὔτε κοιμηθῆναι θέλουσι μᾶλλον ἢ ταῦτα συναύξειν, πρὸς ἃ διαφέρονται· σοὶ δὲ αἱ κοινωνικαὶ πράξεις εὐτελέστεραι φαίνονται καὶ ἥσσονος σπουδῆς ἄξιαι;

shared as

A gap the length of the shared sentence, which is not in the text.2

Where it comes from

Elbert Hubbard wrote it, in his essay ‘The New Thought’, printed unsigned in his magazine The Fra (March 1914, p. 171) and signed ‘by Elbert Hubbard’ in Hearst’s Magazine the same month (p. 294, without ‘to love’, and there credited to Marcus Aurelius alone); in The Fra he presents it in quotation marks as the ‘similar gospel’ of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius; nothing like it is in the Meditations (searched in Long’s translation and the Greek for the morning passages, 5.1 and 8.12). In the same essay he gives Pythagoras and Hypatia quoted sayings in the same modern idiom (not checked here). The current wording (‘to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love’) shortens his; the shortened ‘to be alive’ form is found by 1972 (Wilferd A. Peterson, still crediting Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius) and in that form credited to Marcus alone by 1998 (Owen Collins, Get Motivated!), in archive.org full-text search snippets. Wikiquote lists it under Misattributed with the Fra page; WIST Quotations calls it spurious.

How it travelled

  1. 180Before it · credited to Marcus AureliusMeditations 5.1: Marcus’s real morning reminder, to get up for the work of a human being. A morning thought, but not this one.In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present⁠—I am rising to the work of a human being.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, translated by George Long (1862), Book 5, section 1. Checked in a full-text transcription. Source
  2. March 1914Earliest found · credited to Epictetus and Marcus AureliusElbert Hubbard prints the sentence in quotation marks in his essay ‘The New Thought’ in his magazine The Fra, as the gospel taught by Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.When you arise in the morning think on what a precious privilege it is to live—to breathe—to think—to enjoy—to love!Elbert Hubbard, ‘The New Thought’, The Fra, vol. 12, no. 6 (March 1914), p. 171. Checked on a page scan. Source
  3. March 1914Spread · credited to Marcus AureliusThe same essay, signed by Hubbard, in Hearst’s Magazine, with a shorter sentence credited to Marcus Aurelius alone (‘Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, taught a similar gospel’). Both printings are of March 1914; which came first is not known.When you arise in the morning think on what a precious privilege it is to live, to breathe, to think, to enjoy.Elbert Hubbard, “The New Thought”, Hearst’s Magazine, vol. 25, no. 3 (March 1914), p. 294. Checked on a page scan. Source
  4. 1972Reworded · credited to Epictetus and Marcus AureliusThe shortened wording, still credited to Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius together.in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy,Wilferd A. Peterson, The Art of Living Day by Day (1972). Checked by full-text search only, the page not read. Source
  5. 1998Credited to Marcus AureliusCredited to Marcus Aurelius alone, in the ‘to be alive’ wording, in a book of motivational sayings.think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.Owen Collins, Get Motivated! Sayings and Stories to Motivate Yourself and Others (London: HarperCollins, 1998). Checked by full-text search only, the page not read. Source

In context

Circulates as Marcus Aurelius’s morning advice, on posters, gratitude and self-help pages. The words are Elbert Hubbard’s: in ‘The New Thought’ (The Fra, March 1914) he traces New Thought back through Pythagoras, Socrates, Jesus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, and Hypatia, with a saying for each, some traditional (Socrates’ ‘Know thyself’, Jesus’ ‘I and my Father are one’), others in his own modern idiom. Of Epictetus and Marcus he writes that they ‘taught a similar gospel’, followed by this sentence, then ‘God’s spirit is close to us when we love’ and a line on equanimity and moderation.

What it says

Begin each day grateful for the plain fact of being alive and able to breathe, think, enjoy and love.

Often misread

Marcus’s own morning reminder (5.1) is the opposite in mood: when you get up unwillingly, remember that you are rising to the work of a human being, not made to lie warm in the bedclothes. It is about duty, not savouring the privilege of life. The modern form also drops The Fra’s joint credit to Epictetus (Hubbard’s Hearst’s printing already names Marcus alone) and his religious sequel.

Use this instead

“In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present⁠—I am rising to the work of a human being.”

Meditations (180), Book 5, section 1, opening (a related genuine passage, not the circulating quotation).

Also shared as

  • ShortenedWhen you arise in the morning think on what a precious privilege it is to live—to breathe—to think—to enjoy—to love! Hubbard’s own sentence as printed in The Fra, March 1914, p. 171 (checked on the page image), the first of three sentences he gives as the gospel of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Where it was seen

Topics

Life, Emotions, Wisdom

Related quotes

Sources

Cite it

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” Attributed to Marcus Aurelius. No. Elbert Hubbard wrote it, not Aurelius. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/when-you-arise-in-the-morning-think-of-what-a-precious-privilege-it-is-to-be-alive/ (checked 23 October 2026).

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Checked by people

People who checked this entry against its source, under their own names. Their checks do not change the verdict: an editor reviews every entry.

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