In his Meditations (5.16), Marcus Aurelius wrote: “The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”
In other words, what you frequently think about affects who you are and it’s within your power to think mostly of things in line with your principles. If that seems too abstract, thanks to the centuries-old practice of tattooing, it’s also possible for the skin to be dyed with the colour of your thoughts.
And the latter influences the former – having something tattooed on your body that you’d like to be regularly reminded of keeps it in your thoughts. Your skin is dyed, your thoughts are coloured, your soul is dyed. A permanent change is effected.
If you’re thinking of getting inked but aren’t sure on the design, follow the #wisstoictattoos hashtag on Instagram to see some of the best Stoic tattoos. New updates are added regularly, check out some examples below!