Quotes About Stoicism

las aflicciones de los hombres serían menores si no se empeñasen con tanta imaginación (¡Dios sabrá por qué los ha hecho así!) en rememorar los males pasados en lugar de soportar un presente anodino.

And show me the man who is ill-tempered and yet is good enough to hide it, to bear it alone, without destroying the joy all around him!

His head always felt about to ache, but never began to.

It is clear that bearing the cross patiently does not mean that we harden ourselves or do not feel any sorrow; according to the old notion of the Stoic philosophers that a greathearted man is someone who has laid off his humanity, and who is not touched by adversity and prosperity, and not even by joy and sorrow, but who acts like a cold rock.

At present there are among Christians modern Stoics who think it is wrong to groan and to weep and even to grieve in loneliness. Such wild opinions generally come forth from men who are more dreamers than practical men, and who, therefore, cannot produce anything else but fantasies.

At present, likewise, there are among Christians new Stoics who think it a vice not only to groan and weep, but even to be sad or upset. And indeed, these ridiculous ideas generally come from idle men.

When one maintains his proper attitude in life, he does not long after externals.

Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness and contentment?

He who does not want to die should not want to live. For life is tendered to us with the proviso of death. Life is the way to this destination.

Consider thyself to be dead, and to have completed thy life up to the present time; and live according to nature the remainder which is allowed thee.

It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when thy body does not give way.

Tota vita nihil aliud quam ad mortem iter est. The whole of life is nothing but a journey to death.

... when confronted with unusual life situations... A warrior acts as if nothing had ever happened, because he doesn't believe in anything, yet he accepts everything at its face value.

The (atomic) soul is mortal, and the best life is the one with the least pain and the most pleasure.

En vez de querer ser esto o aquello, conviértete en un gigante silencioso e inamovible. así es la montaña. No pierdas el tiempo tratando de impresionar a la gente. Si te conviertes en la clase de hombre a quien la gente puede respetar, te respetarán sin que hagas nada.

Do not dump your woes upon people — keep the sad story of your life to yourself. Troubles grow by recounting them.

maturity consisted in accepting the turn that existence had taken without getting too upset

said to myself that maturity consisted in accepting the turn that existence had taken without getting too upset, following

I concentrated on training myself to react little or not at all. I learned to reduce my emotions to the minimum.

If only one tooth aches, rejoice that not all of them ache.... If your wife betrays you, be glad that she betrayed only you and not the nation.

One of the most quoted Stoic sayings must surely be Epictetus' (which we first encountered on p. 39): 'People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of things.

Chrysippus' questions might be useful. He asked: 'Is there good or bad at hand? Is it appropriate to react?' This could be supplemented with a few more, producing a kind of Chrysippan flowchart:

When planning for the future, it might be useful to follow the Stoics' suggestion of adding to our intention a tag like 'if nothing prevents' – a secular version of 'God willing