True to this creed, Marcus Aurelius was no party animal. It is almost admirable. Most of the ideas he presents are, by and large, fairly sensible. Still, Marcus Aurelius' cry to live for the day isn't your usual call of carpe diem. Revere the Gods, save mankind.
Life is short.
This only is the harvest of earthly existence, a righteous disposition and social acts. But as one already dying disdain the flesh. We shouldn't worry about our deaths and posterity. But a healthy dose of realism suggests that much of what he says is impractical and impracticable. Marcus Aurelius seems to have been an estimable man, and so it is easy to see in his pithy sayings profound wisdom that should guide us.