Quotes About Stoicism

I practice stoic philosophy. As a human being, you may have emotions, but these don't need to affect your soul. The two are not one.

All that philosophy can teach is to be stubborn or sullen under misfortunes.

Hillary Clinton appears to believe in a form of stoicism - which is a tried and true life philosophy.

Philosophy is the health of the mind.

Misfortunes, in fine, cannot be avoided; but they may be sweetened, if not overcome, and our lives made happy by philosophy.

The basic philosophy of stoicism is that you have nothing real external to your own consciousness, that the only thing real is in fact your consciousness.

What is it to be a philosopher? Is it not to be prepared against events?

For there was never yet philosopher That could endure the toothache patiently.

Its a sign of weakness to lament about things which you entirely have no control over.

The universe is flux, life is opinion.

When Nietszche says, "A new commandment I give to you, be hard" he is really saying, "A new commandment I give to you, be dead." Sensibility is the definition oflife.

If I cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that. But when it comes to politics - no, I don't cry.

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

If you wish to live a life free from sorrow think of what is going to happen as if it had already happened.

I am dying but otherwise I am quite well.

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.

You can be happy if you know this secret: Some things are within your power to control and some things are not.

If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgement of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgement now.

When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it; you can either accept it or resent it.

Happy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power.

if the emotional person is another man, it is the worst possible catastrophe. The societal fabric has been rent. A man would rather be shot by a firing squad than to break down in front of his fellows, and to witness such a breakdown is almost as bad a breach of decorum as to break down oneself.

Your primary desire, says Epictetus, should be your desire not to be frustrated by forming desires you won't be able to fulfill.

Indeed, pursuing pleasure, Seneca warns, is like pursuing a wild beast: On being captured, it can turn on us and tear us to pieces. Or, changing the metaphor a bit, he tells us that intense pleasures, when captured by us, become our captors, meaning that the more pleasures a man captures, "the more masters will he have to serve.

If you consider yourself a victim, you are not going to have a good life; if, however, you refuse to think of yourself as a victim—if you refuse to let your inner self be conquered by your external circumstances—you are likely to have a good life, no matter what turn your external circumstances take. (In particular, the Stoics thought it possible for a person to retain his tranquility despite being punished for attempting to reform the society in which he lived.)