"Death is a relief from sense impressions, passions that make us their puppets, the vagaries of the intellect, and the hard service of the flesh." He was a philosopher and emperor of Rome who lived in the first century A.D. The above quote comes from his own hand written journal. It's a simple yet profound statement that shows how much he understood about life and its nature. Death can be viewed as an end to our senses, emotions, thoughts, and memories. It is natural for us all to want to escape our fate by clinging to life but as Aurelius has shown us, death can be seen as a relief from the pain of living. He was born on March 15th in 121 A.D. into a wealthy family. His father died when he was eight years old so he went to live with his uncle who had four other children his own age. From an early age he showed a fascination with philosophy and literature so his guardian sent him to Athens to study rhetoric. When he returned to Rome five years later he became one of the leading speakers at the court of Emperor Antoninus Pius. He also wrote several books on philosophy including "Meditations" which many people still read hundreds of years after it was written.