"Cease your imaginings. Confine yourself to the present." - Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was a preeminent stoic philosopher, but still found time to be the Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD. This quotation is from his personal journals, now known as the Meditations where he admonishes the reader for being such a procrastinating worrywart. It would be pretty harsh of him, were he not also the intended reader (journal, remember?). You can think of Aurelius as your own personal Jiminy Cricket but with fewer dance numbers and more facial hair.
We love this particular quotation’s simplicity, a call to put down all of the “what if” that daily life elicits, and to focus on the here and now.
In our illustration, two cones, future and past, taper to a central moment under an assault of imagined swords. The cones form the shape of an hourglass or if you want to get really nerdy, a Minkowski space-time diagram. The swords fall outside of the possible future and past paths, showing the pointlessness of idle worry, leaving the wide-open space of possibility that only focus can manifest.
• 11x14 inch art print with white border
• Premium, fine art paper made in New York
• Elegant eggshell finish
• Ships in a a rigid, flat mailer. No need to unroll!
• Fits into standard 11x14 frames (or a 16x20 frame matted to 11x14)
Obvious State is a creative studio and publisher founded by Nichole and Evan Robertson in 2011.
We make bold, illustrated editions and art drawn from the classics.
Our books and prints are available in our shop and in bookstores and boutiques nationwide.
Our work has been featured at The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Writers Museum, The Emily Dickinson Museum, The Library of Congress, The Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art and more.
Every piece is illustrated by Evan Robertson — a single artistic vision applied to some of the greatest works ever written.
Provocative visuals paired with punctuated language, full of surprising visual metaphors, subtext, and insider nudges.
Our pocket editions are portable art objects made to collect, share, and inspire moments of quiet reflection in an overstimulated digital world.
We’re drawn to language that has stood the test of time, insights that strike a chord, poetry that stretches the imagination, and philosophy that prompts critical thinking.
