Quotations from major Stoic philosophers

Epictetus:

• "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." (Ench. 5)
• "If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone." (iii.24.2)

Marcus Aurelius:

• "Get rid of the judgment, get rid of the 'I am hurt,' you are rid of the hurt itself." (viii.40)
• "Everything is right for me that is right for you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late that comes in due time for you. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, O Nature. From you are all things, in you are all things, to you all things return." (iv.23)
• "If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word that you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this." (iii.12)
• "How ridiculous and how strange is to be surprised at anything that happens in life!" (xii.13)
• "Outward things cannot touch the soul, not in the least degree; nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul; but the soul turns and moves itself alone." (v.19)
• "Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also" (vi.19)
• "Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of all those applauding hands. The people who praise us — how capricious they are, how arbitrary. And the tiny region in which it all takes place. The whole earth a point in space—and most of it uninhabited. How many people there will be to admire you, and who they are." (iv.3)
• “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “Whatever happens, happens such as you are either formed by nature able to bear it, or not able to bear it. If such as you are by nature form’d able to bear, bear it and fret not: But if such as you are not naturally able to bear, don’t fret; for when it has consum’d you, itself will perish. Remember, however, you are by nature form’d able to bear whatever it is in the power of your own opinion to make supportable or tolerable, according as you conceive it advantageous, or your duty, to do so.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius
• “And here are two of the most immediately useful thoughts you will dip into. First that things cannot touch the mind: they are external and inert; anxieties can only come from your internal judgement. Second, hat all these things you see will change almost as you look at them, and then will be no more. Constantly bring to mind all that you yourself have already seen changed. The universe is change: life is judgement.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “Remember two things: i. that everything has always been the same, and keeps recurring, and it makes no difference whether you see the same things recur in a hundred years or two hundred, or in an infinite period; ii. that the longest-lived and those who will die soonest lose the same thing. The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do not have you cannot lose.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “You need to avoid certain things in your train of thought: everything random, everything irrelevant. And certainly everything self-important or malicious. You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, "What are your thinking about?" you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
• “When force of circumstance upsets your equanimity, lose no time in recovering your self-control, and do not remain out of tune longer than you can help. Habitual recurrence to the harmony will increase your mastery of it.”
  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Seneca the Younger:

• “Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant.” ― Seneca
• “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. ” ― Seneca
• "Despise Death, Yield not to adversity, trust not to prosperity, have scorn and contempt for the gifts of chance "
• "A brave man can live and die in defiance of death"
• "You will know you are wise when you are Joyful, Calm, Happy, and Unshaken "
• “Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.”  ― Seneca
• “Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We've been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.”
  ― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
• “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca
• “Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We've been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.” ― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
• “It is not the man who has too little that is poor, but the one who hankers after more.” ― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
• "The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live." (Ep. 101.15)
• "That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away." (Ep. 59.18)
• "Let Nature deal with matter, which is her own, as she pleases; let us be cheerful and brave in the face of everything, reflecting that it is nothing of our own that perishes." (De Provid. v.8)
• "Virtue is nothing else than right reason." (Ep. 66.32)
• “It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.” ― Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters
• “For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it?
  A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.”
  ― Seneca, The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters
• “Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.” ― Seneca
• Maximum remedium est irae mora The best remedy for anger is delay, Latin
• “Remember that all we have is “on loan” from Fortune, which can reclaim it without our permission—indeed, without even advance notice. Thus, we should love all our dear ones, but always with the thought that we have no promise that we may keep them forever—nay, no promise even that we may keep them for long.”
  ― Seneca
• “But is life really worth so much? Let us examine this; it's a different inquiry. We will offer no solace for so desolate a prison house; we will encourage no one to endure the overlordship of butchers. We shall rather show that in every kind of slavery, the road of freedom lies open. I will say to the man to whom it befell to have a king shoot arrows at his dear ones [Prexaspes], and to him whose master makes fathers banquet on their sons' guts [Harpagus]: 'What are you groaning for, fool?... Everywhere you look you find an end to your sufferings. You see that steep drop-off? It leads down to freedom. You see that ocean, that river, that well? Freedom lies at its bottom. You see that short, shriveled, bare tree? Freedom hangs from it.... You ask, what is the path to freedom? Any vein in your body.” ― Seneca, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
• “Love sometimes injures. Friendship always benefits, After friendship is formed you must trust, but before that you must judge.” ― Seneca
• “My advice is really this: what we hear the philosophers saying and what we find in their writings should be applied in our pursuit of the happy life. We should hunt out the helpful pieces of teaching, and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application—not far-fetched or archaic expressions or extravagant metaphors and figures of speech—and learn them so well that words become works. No one to my mind lets humanity down quite so much as those who study philosophy as if it were a sort of commercial skill and then proceed to live in a quite different manner from the way they tell other people to live.” ― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
• “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ― Seneca
• “All cruelty springs from weakness.” ― Seneca, Seneca's Morals: Of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency
• “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.”  ― Seneca
• “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” ― Seneca
• “Non est ad astra mollis e terris via" - "There is no easy way from the earth to the stars”
• “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” ― Seneca
• “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” ― Seneca
• “He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.” ― Seneca
• “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality” ― Seneca
• “Only time can heal what reason cannot.” ― Seneca
• “Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters.”  ― Seneca
• “Associate with people who are likely to improve you.” ― Seneca
• “The sun also shines on the wicked.” ― Seneca
• “Leisure without books is death, and burial of a man alive.” ― Seneca
• “Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.” ― Seneca
• “Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.” ― Seneca
• “errare humanum est, sed perseverare diabolicum: 'to err is human, but to persist (in the mistake) is diabolical.” ― Seneca
• "Most men alternate in wretchedness between the fear of the hardships of life, and the fear of death"
• " So Let us Clothe ourselves with a Heroes Courage, and remove ourselves from the common opinions of men "
• "Many men have endured separate trials: Mucius by fire, Sextius by crucifixion, Socrates by poison, and Cato by the sword, so let us too overcome something, and be included among the Greats of History "

Epictetus

• “You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”
  ― Epictetus, The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
• “What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.”
  ― Epictetus
• “Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don't try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don't let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes. Adopt a similar attitude with regard to children, wife, wealth and status, and in time, you will be entitled to dine with the gods. Go further and decline these goods even when they are on offer and you will have a share in the gods' power as well as their company. That is how Diogenes, Heraclitus and philosophers like them came to be called, and considered, divine.”
  ― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness
• “If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.”
  ― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness
• “The first and most important field of philosophy is the application of principles such as “Do not lie.” Next come the proofs, such as why we should not lie. The third field supports and articulates the proofs, by asking, for example, “How does this prove it? What exactly is a proof, what is logical inference, what is contradiction, what is truth, what is falsehood?” Thus, the third field is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first. The most important, though, the one that should occupy most of our time, is the first. But we do just the opposite. We are preoccupied with the third field and give that all our attention, passing the first by altogether. The result is that we lie – but have no difficulty proving why we shouldn’t.”
  ― Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness
• “For in this Case, we are not to give Credit to the Many, who say, that none ought to be educated but the Free; but rather to the Philosophers, who say, that the Well-educated alone are free.”
  ― Epictetus, All the Works of Epictetus

NEWS CONTENTS

• 200103 : People will never define you for how many times you fall but how many times that you stand up. Jo Malone ( )
• 200103 : Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics) Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Robin Campbell ( Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics) Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Robin Campbell , )
• 200103 : Quotes About Stoicism (117 quotes) ( Quotes About Stoicism (117 quotes), )

Old News ;-)

People will never define you for how many times you fall but how many times that you stand up. Jo Malone

Letters from a Stoic (Penguin Classics) Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Robin Campbell

Seneca, the Stoic Saint

By Ryan C. Holiday VINE VOICE on February 24, 2009

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I tore this book to pieces. My copy is overflowing with tabbed pages and highlighted lines and notes in the margins. Seneca of course, is a fascinating figure. Gregory Hays once said about Marcus Aurelius that "not being a tyrant was something he had to work at one day at a time" and often, Seneca lost that battle. He was the Cardinal Richelieu behind Nero. He sat back and enjoyed the spoils of his student who had clearly lost his way--at least Aristotle didn't profit from Alexander's lust for power. However, there is some interesting evidence put forth in a paper titled - Seneca: The Case of the Opulent Stoic in which Lydia Motto presents that what we know of Seneca's reputation comes almost entirely from a single, less than objective source. And in fact, if we can trust the way in which Seneca faced his forced suicide there was not much difference between practice and philosophy.

The book is profoundly insightful, it calls you to action, and it has that 'quit your whining--this is life' attitude that so defines the Roman Stoics. This is by no means an all inclusive list but is Seneca on some important topics:

On doing more than consuming:
He should be delivering himself of such sayings, not memorizing them. It is disgraceful that a man who is old or in sight of old age should have wisdom deriving solely from his notebook. 'Zeno said this.' And what have you said? 'Cleanthes said that.' What have you said? How much longer are you going to serve under others? Assume authority over yourself and utter something that may be handed down to posterity. Produce something from your own resources.

On endurance:

Life's no soft affair. It's a long road you've started on: you can't but expect to have slips and knocks and falls, and get tired and openly wish--a lie--for death.

On freedom from perturbation:

Show me a man who isn't a slave; one who is a slave to sex, another to money, another to ambition; all are slaves to hope or fear. I could show you a man who has been a Consul who is a slave to his 'little old woman', a millionaire who is the slave of a little girl in domestic service. And there is no state of slavery more disgraceful than one which is self-imposed.

On quoting what you read:

There is no enjoying the possession of anything valuable unless one has someone to share it with. I shall send you, accordingly, the actual books themselves, and to save you a lot of trouble hunting all over the place for passages likely to be of use to you, I shall mark the passages so that you can turn straight away to the words I approve and admire."

Quotes About Stoicism (117 quotes)

"Warriors should suffer their pain silently."
― Erin Hunter, Into the Wild

"Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier."
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

People hide their truest nature. I understood that; I even applauded it. What sort of world would it be if people bled all over the sidewalks, if they wept under trees, smacked whomever they despised, kissed strangers, revealed themselves?" ― Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen

"Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness. Unfortunately the happiness is there. There is always the chance (about eight hundred and fifty to one) that another heart will come to mine. I can't help hoping, and keeping faith, and loving beauty. Quite frequently I am not so miserable as it would be wise to be." ― T.H. White, Ghostly, Grim and Gruesome

"Always resignation and acceptance. Always prudence and honour and duty. Elinor, where is your heart?" ― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

"A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking." ― Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness." ― T.H. White, Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Stories That Scared Even Me

"[A] resistance that dispenses with consolations is always stronger than one which relies on them."― Perry Anderson, Spectrum: From Right to Left in the World of Ideas

"Most of us are "living the dream" living, that is, the dream we once had for ourselves." ― William B. Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

"...we can do some historical research to see how our ancestors lived. We will quickly discover that we are living in what to them would have been a dream world that we tend to take for granted things that our ancestors had to live without..." ― William B. Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

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