Quotes About Stoicism

It is no evil for things to undergo change, and no good for things to subsist in consequence of change. 43.

And he who pursues pleasure will not abstain from injustice, and this is plainly impiety.

Manage all your actions, words, and thoughts accordingly, since you may at any moment quit life.

He was taught to dress plainly and to live simply, to avoid all softness and luxury.

Continually, and, if possible, in the case of every mental image, consider its nature, realize its emotional content, and judge it rationally.

Yes, you can—if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.

You are a spirit, bearing the weight of a dead body, as Epictetus used to say.

But cast away the thirst after books, that thou mayest not die murmuring, but cheerfully, truly, and from thy heart thankful to the gods.

For a man cannot lose either the past or the future: for what a man has not, how can any one take this from him?

Finally, in every event which leads you to sorrow, remember to use this principle: that this is not a misfortune, but that to bear it like a brave man is good fortune.

Whatever anyone does or says, I must be a good man. It is as if an emerald, or gold or purple, were always saying: 'Whatever anyone does or says, I must be an emerald and keep my own colour.

finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded.

Does a man offend your pride? Remember he will be dead soon, as will you.

To be cheerful, and to stand in no need, either of other men's help or attendance, or of that rest and tranquillity, which thou must be beholding to others for. Rather like one that is straight of himself, or hath ever been straight, than one that hath been rectified.

You say — 'It's unfortunate that this has happened to me.' No. It's fortunate that this has happened and I've remained unharmed by it — not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have remained unharmed by it.

And why is it so hard when things go against you? If it's imposed by nature, accept it gladly and stop fighting it. And if not, work out what your own nature requires, and aim at that, even if it brings you no glory.

Wipe out imagination; check desire: extinguish appetite: keep the ruling faculty in its own power.

Not to be offended with other men's liberty of speech, and to apply myself unto philosophy.

All that comes to pass is as familiar and well known as the rose in spring, and the grape in summer. Of like fashion are sickness, death, calumny, intrigue, and all that gladdens or saddens the foolish.

To love only what happens, what was destined. No greater harmony.

Self-contraction: the mind's requirements are satisfied by doing what we should, and by the calm it brings to us.

Remember: philosophy requires only what your nature already demands.

Write off your hopes, and if your well-being matters to you, be your own savior while you can.

The highest good was the virtuous life. Virtue alone is happiness, and vice is unhappiness. Carrying this theory to its extreme, the Stoic said that there could be no gradations between virtue and vice, though of course each has its special manifestations.