The Keyaways blog
Read smarter. Remember longer.
Practical guides on reading more, remembering what you read, and learning from books, articles and videos.
September 18, 2026 · 8 min read
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: summary and key takeaways
A Roman emperor's private notebook, written to remind himself how to live. Here are the book's central ideas, with passages from the George Long translation.
Key takeaways
- Marcus returns again and again to one idea: events themselves do not disturb us, our judgments about them do, and those judgments are within our power.
- He prepares for difficult people each morning, not to despise them but to remember that they act from ignorance and that we are made to work together.
- Life happens only in the present moment, and everything, including fame and the emperor himself, is passing, so the time to be good is now.
How to summarize YouTube videos into notes you will actually use
A long talk or tutorial can hold a handful of genuinely useful ideas. Here is a manual method for turning a YouTube video into notes, and how AI tools can do the first pass for you.
6 min read
Are book summaries worth it? An honest look
Book summaries are brilliant for some books and pointless for others. Here is how to tell the difference, and how to use them so the ideas actually stay with you.
6 min read
How to read more books when you have no time
You probably do not need more willpower or a speed-reading course. You need better use of small slots, a way to choose books well, and permission to stop reading the wrong ones.
7 min read
How to remember what you read: six evidence-based habits
Finishing a book is not the same as keeping it. Here is what memory research says about holding on to what you read, and a simple routine that puts it into practice.
7 min read