Quotes About Stoicism

Epictetus. The words in questions were, I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived—and dying I will tend to later.

Haz el mejor uso posible de lo que está en tu poder, y toma el resto como acontezca

For the Stoics, what distinguishes our species is the ability to reason and our high degree of sociality, from which it follows that we should spend our existence intent in using our mind to improve social living.

Massimo Pigliucci

Cicero concluded that "the actual hitting of the mark [is] to be chosen but not to be desired,

One of the key tenets of Stoicism is that we ought to recognize, and take seriously, the difference between what we can and cannot master.

Actuar con moderación, ver las cosas no solo desde nuestra perspectiva, descubrir aquello que está fuera de nuestro control, desarrollar la empatía, asumir la autocrítica, analizar las causas de nuestra ira e impaciencia… Esto es lo que este extraordinario manual nos permite aprender al aplicar la filosofía estoica en nuestro día a día.

There are two crucial ideas underlying Stoicism, and they each correspond to one major promise the philosophy holds for its practitioners. The first crucial idea is that life is fundamentally about being a morally good person, which is achieved through the continuous practice of four cardinal virtues. The second idea is the so-called dichotomy of control, the notion that some things are "up to us," as the Stoics say, and other things are not.

Epictetus claims that all three of these things (thoughts, impulses, and the will to avoid and to get) are ultimately under our control.

To a Stoic, it ultimately does not matter if we think the Logos is God or Nature, as long as we recognize that a decent human life is about the cultivation of one's character and concern for other people (and even for Nature itself) and is best enjoyed by way of a proper—but not fanatical—detachment from mere worldly goods.

Stoics shifted the emphasis very much toward the social, essentially arguing that the point of life for human beings is to use reason to build the best society that it is humanly possible to build.

One of the first lessons from Stoicism, then, is to focus our attention and efforts where we have the most power and then let the universe run as it will. This will save us both a lot of energy and a lot of worry.

Epictetus suggests that those who fall into circumstances they wish to avoid are those who suffer misfortune, by which he means that much suffering comes from a disconnect between what you want to happen and what actually happens. Or, as the Stoics would say, what is in accordance to nature as opposed to contrary to nature.

The way the Stoics put all of this into practice is by means of the four cardinal virtues: practical wisdom, the ability to navigate complex situations, especially morally salient ones, in the best way possible; courage, of the moral kind, as in the courage to stand up and do the right thing; justice, meaning treating others as worthy of the respect and dignity that comes with being fellow humans; and temperance, responding to situations in just measure, without excess or defect.

These are often referred to as the three Stoic disciplines: desire, action, and assent.

But as Epictetus tells his students: "Remember that it is we who torment, we who make difficulties for ourselves—that is, our opinions do. What, for instance, does it mean to be insulted? Stand by a rock and insult it, and what have you accomplished? If someone responds to insult like a rock, what has the abuser gained with his invective?

Two of the four Stoic virtues are pertinent to regulating desire: courage (to face facts and act accordingly) and temperance (to rein in our desires and make them commensurate with what is achievable).

What should we do then? Make the best use of what is in our power, and treat the rest in accordance with its nature." Epictetus, Discourses I, 1.17

My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it . . . but love it. Friedrich Nietzsche

As Montaigne put it, "He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.

Cruel, but composed and bland,Dumb, inscrutable and grand,So Tiberius might have sat,Had Tiberius been a cat.

In any case I just cannot imagine attaching so much importance to any food or treat that I would grow irate or bitter at the mention of the suffering of animals. A pig to me will always seem more important than a pork rind. There is the risk here of confusing realism with cynicism, moral stoicism with moral sloth, of letting oneself become jaded and lazy and self-satisfied--what used to be called an 'appetitive' person.

I then suggested that he memorize a saying of Epictetus, which has always been a favorite of mine: "Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.

Never cry over pain, their mother told them. Those are wasted tears.