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It could be argued that we have far too many books at home. It could also be argued, and indeed has been pointed out, that the Austin Public Library is an option. Both would be valid considerations if it weren’t for the fact that we love shopping for books and we love having a personal library at home.

While we admittedly have books we haven’t read yet — or perhaps more appropriately haven’t gotten to yet — it’s always a special day when we can go out for the day to collect more books.

We did just that this past Sunday, when we ventured to Rochester for a visit to Barnes & Noble. It was a day of success as I was able to track down all of the books I was looking for that would allow me to finish two series and continue on with another.

While I was looking forward to picking those books up and jumping into the friendly confines of pages filled with familiar characters, it was the fourth book that I was particularly happy to find.

“Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius.

If you’re not a fan of history then you perhaps don’t recognize one of Rome’s most prolific and impactful emperors to lead the empire. If you’re a movie fan then perhaps you remember Aurelius from the opening frames of “Gladiator.” His death at the hands of his son, Commodus, though not particularly accurate to how the emperor actually died, was nevertheless an impactful part of the movie.

But we’re focusing on the real life Marcus Aurelius, who throughout his life held a number of titles: Emperor, military leader, consul … and philosopher. That’s where the book “Meditations” comes in.

Specifically, Aurelius was a stoic philosopher following a philosophy that originated in Greece and Rome and held at its heart the ideals of virtue. Expanding on that, Stoicism believed that the universe reacts to cause and effect.

Aurelius had practiced under these ideals, and his writings that became “Meditations” were written in Greek to reflect this training.

It’s important to note here that Aurelius never intended the insights found in “Meditations” to be published. Instead, they were observations on living a good and well-meaning life. These were guidances onto themselves for his own benefit.

And yet, they are filled with common sense ideals that upon reading seem so simple as to be foolish that these ideals would not be followed.

I’m only a little ways into “Meditations,” but already I’m finding immense value in the words Aurelius put on parchment. They are observations that stand the strains of time, and continue to have value today.

The first pages of Book 1 encompasses those things he had learned from others he valued and who had  raised him. These things included compassion, listening and valuing what others have to day, accepting criticism in order to better yourself and much, much more.

My goal in reading this book is to read some of his observations in the morning and a few more each night before going to bed. I don’t want to absorb the entire book as fast as I can. I want to examine each insight on its own merits.

Each morning I want to be given something to think about throughout the day and each night I want something to think about as I fall asleep.

I’m not of the thinking that providence led me to buy this book, but rather, I acted on an urge to improve the scope of my small corner of the world. Through these most recent years, I’ve been enacting change in my own life based on changing views of the world on various and differing observations than those I had known earlier and so far Aurelius’ own meditations fit this evolving world view better than I thought it might. I want to be in a better position that can be of value to those around me as well as myself.

There is nothing groundbreaking in what Marcus Aurelius wrote down based on his own observations of the world around him, nor do I feel the need to mark him as a righteous man with no faults.

In fact, reading through his meditations, I already have begun to understand that Aurelius didn’t view himself as such. Reading the introduction to “Meditations” alludes to the fact that the man himself was not without faults.

I suppose it could be argued that perhaps a reason for Aurelius to write these things down in the first place was an effort to gain insight into the self in order to better himself.

I’ve also come to understand that these words can be taken in different ways by different readers and I would like to think Marcus Aurelius would have liked this idea.

Reading this book will not make me perfect and I will continue to have my faults, but I feel that at the same time, this book based on the insights of one of the strongest emperors of Rome — a position that was often misused by other emperors — can connect a person to base goodness and common sense better than anything else I’ve ever read.

A value in a day and age that has no few amount of challenges.