STOIC SCHOOL
On Stoic Quotes
June 9, 2024
Contrary to today's popular understanding of "judge not lest you be judged," the modern Stoic understands the benefits of judging one another. A Stoic might give a first impression that is clinical or judgmental. But the Stoic is simply building deep friendships. Seneca explains what the mentally healthy Stoic will do, "Think for a long time whether or not you should admit a given person to your friendship. But when you have decided to do so, welcome him heart and soul, and speak as unreservedly with him as you would with yourself."
June 2, 2024
More is required in human relations than truth. In Stoicism, logic (truth) is divided into rhetoric and dialectic. Modern politicians and families do more uniting when they follow the Stoic approach and make their words both logical to the mind and appealing to the heart. Stoics appeal to logic with attractive words. It is only proper to address other humans, each one a fellow part of the universal soul, with accurate words of truth in delightful sayings. Make truth attractive.
May 26, 2024
Quoting from the Stoic philosopher Hecato of Rhodes (c. 100 BC), Seneca explains that, while Stoics do not hanker after lost friendships, they do prefer not to lose them. Similar to a sculptor carving another statue right away if he loses one, wise Stoics with skill in the art of making friends will fill the place of someone they have lost. Seneca also quoted from the Stoic philosopher Attalus (c. AD 25) to show that it is more of a pleasure to make a friend than to have one, "in the same way as an artist derives more pleasure from painting than from having completed a picture."
May 12, 2024
Referring to all things that come into our lives that are beyond our control as coming from Zeus, Epictetus illuminates the Stoic view of hospitality. Students of Stoicism treat strangers with good manners and treat friends and family even better.
May 5, 2024
In the modern age, it is good to remember how Musonius Rufus long ago indicated that every human gender is endowed with the power of reason. One proof is the fact we all communicate together. To Musonius, this meant all of us are united in the same capacity for virtue and the same accountability for vice.
April 28, 2024
One third of Stoicism is logic. Logic is the faculty of the mind that enables it to consider itself. The other two thirds of Stoicism are physics and ethics. Epictetus therefore explained in one sentence that logic is necessary but not sufficient for a life of virtue. It is Epictetus's simple explanation that is so characteristic of Stoicism. Unlike the sophist arguments of modern philosophies designed to explain away a life of virtue, Stoicism's eternal appeal is its simple common sense.
April 21, 2024
Musonius Rufus demonstrates one of the great advantages Stoics have in mental health. First, he wisely directs the student's attention on deserving respect rather than getting respect. Not everyone will give their respect to the virtuous person, but the virtuous person will deserve the respect of everyone. Second, Musonius Rufus locates the source of good mental health within one's own choice. Self-respect is the way to be respected by others who have good mental health themselves.
April 14, 2024
Stobaeus lived around or after the Fifth Century AD. He compiled an important collection of extracts from ancient Greek writings. While very little of Zeno's teachings remain, what remains is remarkable. In placing the origin of unhappiness squarely on inner conflict, Zeno laid the foundation for many ideas of modern psychology. In Stoicism, inner conflict occurs when a person thinks or acts out of harmony with reason, or reality. Long before Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other modern methods, Zeno helped individuals build confidence and become aware of inaccurate thinking so they could view stressful situations accurately and act productively.
April 7, 2024
In the late First Century or the early Second Century, Aetius recorded the teachings of the philosophical schools as they related to natural philosophy. Even from such an early date, the biology of the Stoics anticipated our modern understanding of genetics in an important way. According to H. A. K. Hunt (1976) A Physical Interpretation of the Universe: The Doctrines of Zeno the Stoic, "We have here an hypothesis not unlike that of the modern geneticists who hold that in one tiny cell are contained all the instructions necessary for the development of the animal destined to be formed from it. The diversity of things and creatures is explained, in the Stoic theory, by the multiplicity of the spermatikoi logoi".
March 31, 2024
Cicero, while not a Stoic himself, faithfully documented Stoic teachings as well as those of the other schools of philosophy in his day. Cicero detailed the Stoic emphasis on finding what is true in physics, what is ethical, and what is logical. This "threefold progeny of the soul" continues to play a pivotal role in the acquisition and possession of Stoic virtue. While detailing Stoic understanding of physics, Cicero proved that First Century Stoics understood gravity pulled all things to the center of the earth and that the earth was a sphere. Modern physicists are more Stoic than they might realize.
March 24, 2024
Chrysippus taught that, while a wise person would know what is truly good and what is truly bad, the person would live as if "wealth, reputation, and health were really goods" (Fragments 3.698). Non-Stoics sometimes have difficulty grasping the Stoic balance between knowing what is good and simultaneously acting as if other things were goods. Calling such things, "preferred indifferents," Stoics maintain balance by remembering the other things do not cause happiness but can serve as tools for good by the wise person when they are obtained through virtues such as courage, justice, and self-control.
March 17, 2024
Stoicism to Musonius Rufus 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 celebrating diverse perspectives.
March 10, 2024
Musonius Rufus said the best thing to have on hand during old age was the 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." It is obvious that many people lack peace of mind even when they indulge in pleasure, while virtuous individuals remain tranquil. Musonius implores young and 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 living. 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, [,,,] but life is never incomplete if it is an honorable one." The destination of life is honor.
February 11, 2024
Speaking about the mind, 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. But, here, Epictetus reminds us, "In the things that lie outside the sphere of choice, be confident; in the things that lie within it, be cautious." This is because the only evil is a bad choice. The challenge is recognizing this when fate is at work. For those who meet the challenge, Epictetus's words are a great aid in 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 above all else. According to Seneca, pleasure is a poor and petty thing. Pleasure is something we share with unreasoning animals. The Stoic, however, pursues virtue over pleasure when 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. We cannot avoid truth from nature and from one another. The question is not where to find honest men but whether we will listen to those 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 mostly from honest criticism that 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
June 9, 2024
After friendship is formed you must trust, but before that you must judge.
Seneca
Letters to a Stoic
Letter 3
June 2, 2024
Rhetoric is the science of speaking properly.
Chrysippus
Quoted by Quintillian
2.292
May 26, 2024
I will show you a love potion made without drug or herb or witch's spell. It is this: if you wish to be loved, love.
Hecato
Quoted by Seneca
Letters to a Stoic
Letter 9
May 12, 2024
Strangers come from Zeus.
Epictetus
Discourses 3.11.4
May 5, 2024
Women have received from the gods the same reasoning power as men.
Musonius Rufus
Lectures 3.1
April 28, 2024
April 21, 2024
You will deserve respect from everyone if you will start by respecting yourself.
Musonius Rufus
Stobaeus 3.31.6
Chapter 31:On Respect
April 14, 2024
Zeno described the end as living consistently, for those who live in conflict [with themselves] are unhappy.
Stobaeus, verifying the ancient Stoic foundation for key ideas in modern psychology.
Anthology
2.75.11-76.15
April 7, 2024
The Stoics declare [...] a craftsman like fire [...] embracing in itself all the spermatikoi logoi in accordance with which the particulars come into being according to fate.
Aetius, documenting the Stoic anticipation of genetics
Placita
1.7.33
March 31, 2024
[The] force of gravity makes all things tend to the world's center which is also lowest in what is spherical.
Cicero, documenting the Stoic understanding of physics
Tusculan Disputations
5.69
March 24, 2024
The one and only thing which is indispensable for happiness is knowledge of what is really good and of what is really bad.
Chrysippus
Fragments
3.674
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 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
The Global Logo
In 152 BC, the Stoic Crates of Mallus constructed the earliest known globe of Earth. Approximately two hundred years later, 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 Virtue. Our logo is a symbol of global good through virtuous choices.