Good evening and welcome to boring books for bedtime.

I hope tonight's installment provides all the boredom your busy brain needs to quiet down and let you get some sleep for once.

So lie back, adjust your volume.

Take a nice deep breath and off we go.

Before we start with the reading, I'd like to thank Lee Rosevier for the music you're hearing tonight. I've used tracks from Lee before, but this particular

piece was composed specifically for boring books for bedtime, which was a lovely thing to receive. If you enjoy Lee's music, you can find more

of it on Bandcamp.com, or you can subscribe to his brand new podcast, Five-Minitations.

You'll find links to both of those in the show description.

Thanks again, Lee. I really do appreciate it.

Now let's get to the reading.

This evening, we're reading a classic of Stoic philosophy and self-improvement.

Its meditations by the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,

written between 161 and 180 AD. Let's begin.

Introduction.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Introduction

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was born on April 26th, A.D. 121.

His real name was Marcus Anius Varus, and he was sprung of a noble family which claimed descent from

Numa, second king of Rome. Thus, the most religious of emperors came of the blood of the most pious of early kings.

His father, Anius Ferris, had held high office in Rome and his grandfather of the same name had

been thrice consul. Both his parents died young but Marcus held them in loving remembrance.

On his father's death, Marcus was adopted by his grandfather,

the consular Anius Ferris, and there was deep love between these two. On the very first

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