On Stoic Quotes
March 17, 2024
Stoicism to Musonius Rufus simply meant being "civilized and humane." In our hyper-offended society today, everybody will benefit from being more Stoic. Responding to offense with a model of decent behavior is still the best policy. Both the offender and the one offended can come away with a better temperament from a display of decency. The West has long been known for its diverse and cosmopolitan culture. It is no wonder that Stoicism has led the way in showing how to remain civilized and humane while embracing such diverse perspectives.
March 10, 2024
Musonius Rufus said the best thing to have on hand during old age was the very same thing it was best to have on hand during one's youth - living the right way and in accordance with nature. To Musonius, this meant the opposite of living for pleasure. He considered it self-evident that "we did not come into existence for pleasure." We see this by the fact that many people lack peace of mind even when they indulge in pleasure, while the virtuous person maintains tranquility. Musonius implores the young and the old to act divine by forgoing the pleasure of vice.
March 3, 2024
Ignoring praise and criticism can be an invaluable asset for the student of Stoicism. This is a timeless piece of wisdom. Not only are the words of others beyond our control, but they are also of little value in our pursuit of virtue. Epictetus adds to Socrates' words about how valuable it is to have others examine our life and ideas, when it helps us improve our life, but adds that we ignore their praise or criticism about our rules for life.
February 25, 2024
Contrary to the stereotypical stoic, Seneca makes clear authentic Stoics feel the various passions. It is the true Epicurean who does not feel negative emotions. The difference between the average person and a Stoic, is simply that the Stoic overcomes the passions. This allows the Stoic to act according to reason. In all of this, Seneca agrees with Epictetus, who said, "I should not be unfeeling like a statue, but should preserve my natural and acquired relations." (Discourses 3.2.4) Epictetus places feeling the passions and overcoming them in the second of the three main areas of Stoic study, namely the area dealing with the impulse to act and not to act. Seneca writes about a realistic wise person who is nevertheless good and noble.
February 18, 2024
Although all of us have the gift of life, not all are good at living. Perhaps more than other philosophies of life, Stoicism gives a way to measure if one has mastered the art of life. To Seneca, the art of living comes down to what is honorable. In the same letter, he wrote, "An ordinary journey will be incomplete if you come to a stop in the middle of it, or anywhere short of your destination, but life is never incomplete if it is an honorable one." The destination of human life is honor, according to Seneca.
February 11, 2024
Speaking about the mind and spirit, Seneca wrote, "Only a moderate amount of work is needed for it to thrive and develop." In contrast to bodily health and material investments, work dedicated to virtue pays compounding interest with no diminishing results. The dividend we receive from wisdom and a good spirit is guaranteed, is long-term, is enormous, and costs only a small principal investment. The Stoic is the wisest of investors.
February 4, 2024
For non-Stoics, things outside of a person's control are often a source of anxiety or worse. But, here, Epictetus reminds us of the Stoic expression, "In the things that lie outside the sphere of choice, be confident; in the things that lie within it, be cautious." This is because, ultimately, the only evil is a bad choice. The challenge is recognizing this when fate is at work. For those who meet the challenge, the words of Epictetus are a great aid in maintaining tranquility during life's reversals.
January 28, 2024
In Stoicism, each person has many names in life. These names, or masks, include man or woman, brother or daughter, employer or employee, and every other relationship. These relationships bring unique duties and rewards. The brilliance of Stoicism is in seeing these masks as a tool in discerning the virtuous role we can play. According to Epictetus, we should consider the roles we play in life and decide what a virtuous person in that role would do and do the same.
January 21, 2024
Of the arts and faculties in general, we find none that contemplates and approves or disapproves itself. For example, a painting does not contemplate whether or not it is a masterpiece. Similarly, our faculty of hearing does not contemplate whether or not it is keen. Our power of reason is what contemplates itself and all other things whether they are excellent.
January 14, 2024
When it comes to practicing virtue, an excess in learning can become a vice. The Stoic emphasizes action, the practice of virtue. This attitude moderates the Stoic's acquisition of knowledge. With a purpose-based approach to learning, the Stoic often has a more directed and more meaningful method of self-education than practitioners of other worldviews.
January 7, 2024
Seneca's observation here is part of the reason Stoics believe in a providential universe. Things such as wisdom, justice, courage, and self-control are within the means of each person to acquire. This fact about the operation of the universe certainly works to the benefit of humanity. Stoicism is balanced, however, when it comes to luxuries. They are not evil in themselves. Many of them are preferred indifferents. So, it is up to each person to judge whether a luxury is worth its necessary toil and effort. But the things that cause happiness remain free.
December 31, 2023
With deep insight into human nature, and the grieving process in particular, Stoicism advises us to seek out someone to love. Part of the Stoic response to grief is growth in love. The result of the Stoic approach to grieving, for Seneca, is expressed in the same letter: "Let us see to it that the recollection of those we have lost becomes a pleasure to us."
December 24, 2023
Centuries ago, Seneca described what is now called intentionality. To Seneca, virtue is always an intentional act. Vice, however, is most often done by accident. The reason for this is most individuals pursue pleasure. According to Seneca, pleasure is a poor and petty thing. No value should be set on it. Pleasure is something we share with unreasoning animals. The Stoic, in contrast, pursues virtue over pleasure whenever there is a conflict between the two.
December 17, 2023
While Cynics, such as Diogenes, search unproductively for an honest man, Stoics hold a more realistic view of the world. To Epictetus, honesty is all around. So, we cannot help but hear the truth from nature and from one another. The important question is not whether we will find an honest man but simply whether we will recognize and listen to the truthful people we encounter.
December 10, 2023
Imagine a world where more people acted and thought as if the whole world witnessed their actions and thinking. While not sufficient for solving all social problems, application of Seneca's advice is necessary to eliminate most of what divides people today. To Seneca, each person's thoughts are publicly known in the most important way. To the Stoic, individual thoughts and actions are connected to the entire Cosmos.
December 3, 2023
We have all heard "an unexamined life is not worth living." When we first heard the phrase, most of us considered it to mean we should examine ourselves and live with intentionality. Epictetus, however, adds another dimension to Socrates' words. To Epictetus, the most important examination of our lives comes not from ourselves, but from those who disagree with us. In Stoicism, it is often from honest criticism we receive the kind of examination that makes life most worth living.
November 26, 2023
Writing about friendship, Seneca explains why "no one can lead a happy life if he thinks only of himself and turns everything to his own purpose." From Seneca's perspective, true friendship comes from building upon the bond made possible from a common law for all mankind. Because we have a common human nature, what is in another's best interest is in Seneca's best interest and vice versa. In this way, a Stoic friendship is always a win-win relationship.
Stoic Quotes
March 17, 2024
Do not respond to wrongs as a beast would and do not be implacable towards those who offend but provide them with a model of decent behavior.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures
10.6
March 10, 2024
The human being, alone of the creatures on earth, is the image of the divine and has the same virtues as the divine.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures
17.1
March 3, 2024
Pay no heed to what anyone says about you, for this, in the end, is no concern of yours.
Epictetus
The Handbook
50
February 25, 2024
The difference between the Epicurean and our own school is this: our wise person feels his troubles but overcomes them, while their wise person does not even feel them.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 9, On Self-sufficiency
February 18, 2024
Life is like a play; what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 77, On What Matters in Life
February 11, 2024
Cultivate an asset which the passing of time improves.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 15, On Good Health
February 4, 2024
Things that lie outside the sphere of choice are not by nature either good or evil.
Epictetus
Discourses
3.1.4
January 28, 2024
For each of these names, if rightly considered, always points to the acts appropriate to it.
Epictetus
Discourses
2.10.11
January 21, 2024
'The reasoning faculty alone comprehends both itself and all the other faculties likewise.'
Epictetus
Discourses
1.1.4
January 14, 2024
To want to know more than is sufficient is a form of intemperance.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 88
January 7, 2024
The things that are essential are acquired with little bother; it is the luxuries that call for toil and effort.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 90
December 31, 2023
You have buried someone you loved. Now look for someone to love.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 63
December 24, 2023
No person is good by accident. Virtue must be learnt.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 123
December 17, 2023
December 10, 2023
We should live as if we were in public view and think as if someone could read our minds.
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
Letter 83
December 3, 2023
In matters relating to life, no one offers himself to be examined; and we hate those who have shown us up. But Socrates used to say that an unexamined life is not worth living.
Epictetus
Discourses 1.26.17, 18
November 26, 2023
If a thing is in your interest, it is also in my own interest ... We have neither successes nor setbacks as individuals; our lives have a common end.
Letters from a Stoic
Seneca
Letter 48
November 19, 2023
Zeno holds that the wise person's chief strength is that he is careful not to be tricked and sees to it that he is not deceived.
From Cicero
Academica
Book 2.66
November 12, 2023
We should cherish old age and enjoy it. It is full of pleasure if you know how to use it. Fruit tastes most delicious just when its season is ending.
Seneca
Letter 12
November 5, 2023
Drunkenness is nothing but a state of self-induced insanity.
Seneca
Letter 83
October 29, 2023
What is death? Either a transition or an end. I am not afraid of coming to an end, this being the same as never having begun, nor of transition, for I shall never be in confinement quite so cramped anywhere else as I am here.
Seneca
Letter 65
October 22, 2023
Zeno, defining the soul as the inborn pneuma [spiritus], teaches as follows: that which causes the death of the body when it departs [...] is the inborn pneuma.
Tertullian
On the Soul 5.3
October 15, 2023
Refusal to be influenced by one's body assures one's freedom.
Seneca
Letter 65, paragraph 9
October 8, 2023
Of [the three areas of study], the principal and most urgent is that which has to do with the passions, for these are produced in no other way than by the disappointment of our desires and the incurring of our aversions.
Epictetus
Discourses 3.2.1, 3
October 1, 2023
We need to set our affections on some good person and keep them constantly before our eyes, so that we may live as if they were watching us.
Seneca (quoting Epicurus)
Letter to Lucilius 11
September 24, 2023
Only by exhibiting actions in harmony with the sound words which he has received will anyone be helped by philosophy.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 1.6
September 17, 2023
As far as words go, do not shrink from sympathizing with him, and even, if the opportunity arises, from groaning with him; but be careful not to groan inwardly too.
Epictetus
Handbook 16
September 10, 2023
I should not be unfeeling as a statue.
Epictetus
Discourses 3.2.4
September 3, 2023
Nothing could be said to be living according to nature except the thing that demonstrates its virtue through the actions which it performs in accordance with its own nature.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 17.1
August 27, 2023
Even in the mind of the wise man, a scar remains after the wound is quite healed.
Zeno of Citium
Quoted by Seneca
On Anger 1.16
August 20, 2023
The right way to seize a philosopher, Crates, is by the ears. Persuade me then and drag me off by them.
Zeno of Citium
August 13, 2023
Wellbeing is attained by little things and nevertheless is no little thing itself.
Zeno of Citium
August 6, 2023
Steel your sensibilities, so that life shall hurt you as little as possible.
Zeno of Citium
July 30, 2023
A bad feeling is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason and against nature.
Zeno of Citium
July 23, 2023
We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.
Zeno of Citium
July 16, 2023
He who does not prevent a sin, when he can, commands it.
Seneca
The Tragedies
July 9, 2023
Without philosophy the mind is sickly.
Seneca
The Moral Letters to Lucilius
July 2, 2023
Do not be like an instrument, which issues forth sweet sounds and yet never hears itself.
Cleanthes
June 25, 2023
It is difficulties that show what men are.
Epictetus
June 18, 2023
Thou shalt not blame or flatter any.
Epictetus
June 11, 2023
Virtue alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy; even if some obstacle arises, it is but like an intervening cloud, which floats beneath the sun but never prevails against it.
Seneca
The Moral Letters to Lucilius
June 4, 2023
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
Seneca
The Moral Letters to Lucilius
May 28, 2023
If one doesn't know his mistakes, he won't want to correct them.
Seneca
The Moral Letters to Lucilius
May 21, 2023
What is wisdom? Always desiring the same things, and always refusing the same things.
Seneca
The Moral Letters to Lucilius
May 14, 2023
Be not anxious to please the multitude.
Quintus Sextius
May 7, 2023
It is characteristic of a civilized and humane temperament not to respond to wrongs as a beast would and not to be implacable towards those who offend, but to provide them with a model of decent behavior.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 10.6
April 30, 2023
It is not death, but a bad life, which destroys the soul.
Quintus Sextius
April 23, 2023
Accustom your soul, after it has conceived all that is great of divinity, to conceive something great of itself.
Quintus Sextius
April 16, 2023
The essence of good and evil is a certain disposition of the will.
Epictetus
April 9, 2023
Virtue alone keeps us from making errors in living.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 2.1
April 2, 2023
I ask that you adhere to these principles and that you practice the words which you praise. In this way alone will you please me most and be most helped yourself.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 8.12
To the king who praised Musonius's lecture and said to him, "In return for these things, demand whatever you want from me, for I would not refuse you anything."
March 26, 2023
Since it is Reason which shapes and regulates all other things, it ought not itself to be left in disorder.
Epictetus
March 19, 2023
If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.
Seneca
March 12, 2023
Neither death, nor exile, nor pain, nor anything of this kind is the real cause of our doing or not doing any action, but our inward opinions and principles.
Epictetus
March 5, 2023
A good judge condemns wrongful acts but does not hate them.
The Moral Essays
Seneca
February 26, 2023
Man conquers the world by conquering himself.
Zeno of Citium
February 19, 2023
So what makes a human being beautiful? Must it not be the presence of a human being's excellence? If you for your part want to appear beautiful, young man, you should strive for this, the excellence that characterizes a human being.
Discourses of Epictetus 3.1.6, 7
February 12, 2023
A good intellect is the choir of divinity.
Quintus Sextius
February 5, 2023
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
Seneca
January 29, 2023
Things it was hard to bear, it is pleasant to relate.
Seneca
January 22, 2023
All the good are friends of each other.
Zeno of Citium
January 15, 2023
To live, indeed, is not in our power; but to live rightly is.
Quintus Sextius
January 8, 2023
It is the upright mind that holds true sovereignty.
Seneca
January 1, 2023
If we do not refer each of our actions to some standard, we shall be acting at random; if to an improper standard, we shall fail utterly. There is a general and a particular standard. [...] The particular end relates to the occupation and choice of each individual.
Epictetus
Discourses 3.23.3-5
Our Logo
In 152 BC, the Stoic Crates of Mallus constructed the earliest known globe of Earth. In the First Century, Epictetus located human good and evil within each person's "sphere of choice" (Discourses 1.4.2, 27; 2.16.1). The logo for the Stoic School represents Crates' globe as well as Epictetus' sphere. The straight lines in the middle divide the sphere into four sections representing the four cardinal virtues that make up one Virtue. Our logo is a symbol of global good through virtuous choices.