The ancient philosophy we all need to meet the demands of modern-day living…? Read our selection of Stoicism quotes for philosophical insight into living with integrity, self-control, and rationality.
Origins of Stoicism
Stoic philosophy originated in Athens, Greece around 300 BC, and was started by a philosopher named Zeno of Citium. It’s not to be confused by the modern dictionary definition of stoic, which is to not complain or show feeling, particularly when faced with adversity. Instead, the philosophy focuses on acknowledging that we cannot control what happens to us. But what we do have power over, is how we respond.
So, when anything happens in life, we are in fact presented with an opportunity to practice the four virtues of the stoic philosophy – wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Each virtue is made up of qualities that include:
- Wisdom: Common or good sense, calculation, quick-wittedness, discretion, resourcefulness. (study, life-long journey that’s education)
- Courage: Endurance, confidence, high-mindedness, cheerfulness, industriousness. (Bravery, strength, fortitude)
- Temperance: Good discipline, seemliness, modesty, self-control. (self-discipline, moderation, abstaining from the things that don’t matter,
- Justice: Piety, honesty, equity, fair dealing. (fairness, honesty, good conduct)
Despite its ancient beginnings, the stoic philosophy can still be applied by anyone in our technology driven, integrated, fast-moving, modern-day world. In fact, in a digital age that is characterized by endless distractions and interactions, caused by any number of things and people vying for our attention, a philosophy that emphasizes a straightforward approach to self-control, prioritizes ethical and moral well-being, and is an approach that can be used to life a good life… might be just what we all need!
Late Stoa Quotes
Marcus Aurelius
Known as one of the last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome, Marcus Aurelius is remembered not only as a wise and just ruler but also as an important philosopher whose Stoic wisdom is still widely respected today.
His private thoughts, views, and reflections are recorded in “Meditations,” the personal writings that he penned while on military campaigns.
Despite being written almost two millennia ago, the book is regarded as a life changing reference point for self-improvement, a strong foundational text in the study of Stoicism, and one of the (if not the) greatest surviving philosophical texts available today.
Stoicism quotes by Marcus Aurelius…
- “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
- “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”
- “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
- “You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.”
- “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
- “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
- “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.”
- “In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business.”
- “Choose not to be harmed – and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed – and you haven’t been.”
- “When jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances, revert at once to yourself, and don’t lose the rhythm more than you can help. You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep going back to it.”
- “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
- “The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
- “If you don’t have a consistent goal in life, you can’t live it in a consistent way.” – Marcus Aurelius
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.” - “Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”
Epictetus
Born into slavery around AD 50, Epictetus spent his early life in servitude to a wealthy owner, Epaphroditos. Despite his status, Epictetus was given permission to study and under the tutelage of Musonius Rufus, developed his knowledge of Stoicism and formed his philosophical perspectives.
Not long after Emperor Nero’s death in AD 68, Epictetus would claim his freedom and began teaching philosophy in Rome until AD 93 – the point at which Emperor Domitian banished all philosophers from the city. Epictetus ventured east to Greece and setup a school of philosophy in Nicopolis, where he lived until his death in AD 135.
In terms of published works, Epictetus is best known for Enchiridion and Discourses. Both are believed to have been written by his student, Arrian, based on Epictetus’ teachings.
Stoicism quotes by Epictetus…
- “No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
- “Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless itself pleases. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will; and say this to yourself with regard to everything that happens. For you will find it to be an impediment to something else, but not truly to yourself.”
- “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”
- “Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.”
- “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
- “We suffer not from the events in our lives but from our judgment about them.”
- “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.”
- “We should always be asking ourselves: ‘Is this something that is, or is not, in my control?’”
- “Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.”
- “If you want some good, get it from yourself.”
- “A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.”
Seneca
Born in Corduba, Roman Spain in 4 BC, Seneca was a Stoic philosopher, statesman, and playwright who lived in Rome for most of his life, apart from an eight year period of exile in Corsica.
He was tutor to a young Nero and later an advisor when Nero became emperor in AD 54. Despite waning influence over time, it was a role that lasted for 11 years until Seneca was ordered by Nero to take his own life in AD 65 for an alleged part in a conspiracy on the emperors life.
In part, Seneca’s life was one of stark contrasts. On the one hand he was a Stoic philosopher, yet he was one of the wealthiest people in the Roman empire. His riches and proximity to power followed by a period in exile. He was an intelligent and wise man whose views and teachings were widely respected at the time and through to this day, yet he was also heavily influential as both tutor and advisor to one of the most controversial Roman emperors ever.
In terms of surviving works, Seneca wrote 124 letters on various topics about life including morality (of gladiatorial combat, for example) and Stoic philosophy. His other writings include 12 essays and a series of tragedy-based plays.
Stoic quotes by Seneca the Younger…
- “While we wait for life, life passes.”
- “We should not, like sheep, follow the herd of creatures in front of us, making our way where others go, not where we ought to go.”
- “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.”
- “While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
- “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
- “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
- “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”
- “Only time can heal what reason cannot.”
- “Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.”
- “Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control.”
Musonius Rufus
- “You will earn the respect of all if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. Don’t expect to encourage good deeds in people conscious of your own misdeeds.”
- “If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures.”
- “Wealth is able to buy the pleasures of eating, drinking and other sensual pursuits-yet can never afford a cheerful spirit or freedom from sorrow.”
- “From good people you’ll learn good, but if you mingle with the bad you’ll destroy such soul as you had.”
- “Most of all, teachers should not only be speakers of helpful words , but their actions should be consistent with them. the pupils duty is to attend proactively to what is said, and to be on guard in case they accept something false without thinking.”
- “If we were to measure what is good by how much pleasure it brings, nothing would be better than self-control. if we were to measure what is to be avoided by its pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control.”
- “In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason.”
- “Humanity must seek what is not simple and obvious using the simple and obvious.”
- “It is not possible to live well today unless you treat it as your last day.”
- “Why do we criticize tyrants, when in fact we are much worse than they are? We have the same inclinations as they do; we just lack opportunities to act on them.”
Middle Stoa Quotes
Cato the Younger
- “I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.”
- “Bitter are the roots of study, but how sweet their fruit.”
- “Some have said that it is not the business of private men to meddle with government-a bold and dishonest saying, which is fit to come from no mouth but that of a tyrant or a slave. To say that private men have nothing to do with government is to say that private men have nothing to do with their own happiness or misery; that people ought not to concern themselves whether they be naked or clothed, fed or starved, deceived or instructed, protected or destroyed.”
- “Consider it the greatest of all virtues to restrain the tongue.”
- “Consider in silence whatever anyone says: speech both conceals and reveals the inner soul of man.”
- “Flee sloth; for the indolence of the soul is the decay of the body.”
Posidonius
- “A single day among the learned lasts longer than the longest life of the ignorant.”
- “When men were scattered over the earth, protected by eaves or by the dug-out shelter of a cliff or by the trunk of a hollow tree, it was philosophy that taught them to build houses.”
- “Riches are a cause of evil, not because, of themselves, they do any evil, but because they goad men on to evil.”
- “There are never any occasions when you need think yourself safe because you wield the weapons of Fortune; fight with your own! Fortune does not furnish arms against herself; hence men equipped against their foes are unarmed against Fortune herself.”
- “Things which bestow upon the soul no greatness or confidence or freedom from care are not goods. But riches and health and similar conditions do none of these things; therefore, riches and health are not goods. Things which bestow upon the soul no greatness or confidence or freedom from care, but on the other hand create in it arrogance, vanity, and insolence, are evils. But things which are the gift of Fortune drive us into these evil ways. Therefore these things are not goods.”
Early Stoa Quotes
Zeno of Citium
Best known as the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he began around 300 BC, Zeno taught in the Stoa Poikile, or Painted Porch, an open market in Athens, from which Stoicism gets its name.
Zeno’s philosophy was heavily influenced by the Cynics and Socrates. He advocated for a life of reason lived in harmony with nature, where virtue is the highest good. He believed that: “Happiness is a good flow of life.” And happiness could be achieved by accepting, with indifference, the course of fate while maintaining inner calm.
Sadly, Zeno’s works have not survived, and what is known about his teachings comes primarily from secondary sources like Diogenes Laërtius, who chronicled the lives and teachings of the Stoic philosophers.
Zeno died around 262 BC. His legacy was continued by his followers, most notably Cleanthes and then Chrysippus.
Stoic quotes by Zeno…
- “No loss should be more regrettable to us than losing our time, for it’s irretrievable.”
- “We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”
- “Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing.” (more ‘small wins quotes)
- “Man conquers the world by conquering himself.”
- “The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature.”
- “Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue.”
- “Seeing that the universe gives birth to beings that are animate and wise, should it not be considered animate and wise itself.”
- “Steel your sensibilities, so that life shall hurt you as little as possible.”
- “A bad feeling is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason, and against nature.”
- “All things are parts of one single system, which is called nature; the individual life is good when it is in harmony with nature.”
- “No matter whether you claim a slave by purchase or capture, the title is bad. They who claim to own their fellow-men, look down into the pit and forget the justice that should rule the world.”
Diogenes
- “As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.”
- “He has the most who is most content with the least.”
- “People who talk well but do nothing are like musical intruments; the sound is all they have to offer.”
- “You will become a teacher of yourself when for the same things that you blame others, you also blame yourself.”
- “To become self-educated you should condemn yourself for all those things that you would criticize others.”
- “Education gives sobriety to the young, comfort to the old, riches to the poor and is an ornament to the rich.”
- “Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings?”
- “One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings.”
- “When some one reproached him with his exile, his reply was, “Nay, it was through that, you miserable fellow, that I came to be a philosopher.” Again, when some one reminded him that the people of Sinope had sentenced him to exile, “And I them,” he said, “to home staying.”
- “To one who asked what was the proper time for lunch, he said, “If a rich man, when you will; if a poor man, when you can.”
Cleanthes
- “The willing are led by fate, the reluctant are dragged.”
- “Ignorant men differ from beasts only in their figure.”
- “The Fates guide the person who accepts them and hinder the person who resists them.”
- “People walk in wickedness all their lives or, at any rate, for the greater part of it. If they ever attain to virtue, it is late and at the very sunset of their days.”
- “He needs little who desires but little.”
- “Lead me, Zeus, and you too, Destiny,
To wherever your decrees have assigned me.
I follow readily, but if I choose not,
Wretched though I am, I must follow still.
Fate guides the willing, but drags the unwilling.”
Chrysippus
- “Wise people are in want of nothing, and yet need many things. On the other hand, nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but are in want of everything.”
- “I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things.”
- “There could be no justice, unless there were also injustice; no courage, unless there were cowardice; no truth, unless there were falsehood.”
- “Fate is a sempiternal and unchangeable series and chain of things, rolling and unraveling itself through eternal sequences of cause and effect, of which it is composed and compounded.”
- “If I had followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy.”
- “Of causes, some are complete and primary, others auxiliary and proximate. Hence, when we say that all things come about through fate by antecedent causes, we do not mean this to be understood as ‘by complete and primary causes,’ but ‘by auxiliary and proximate causes.’”