Stoic Quotes
Ancient wisdom for modern life
Showing 26 of 26 quotes
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
happinessmindsetthoughts
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
actionvirtuecharacter
“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
acceptancefatelove
“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
forgivenesscharacterwisdom
“If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
integritytruthethics
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
obstaclesactionperseverance
“Choose not to be harmed — and you won't feel harmed. Don't feel harmed — and you haven't been.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
resilienceperceptioncontrol
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
Marcus Aurelius
Meditations
deathlifecourage
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
anxietyimaginationreality
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
Seneca
On the Shortness of Life
timeproductivitylife
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
preparationopportunitysuccess
“He who is brave is free.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
couragefreedomcharacter
“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
presentuncertaintyaction
“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
qualitylifemeaning
“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
difficultystrengthgrowth
“The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable.”
Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
anxietyfuturepresent
“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
reactioncontrolresponse
“Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
actionphilosophypractice
“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
relationshipsinfluencegrowth
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
identityactionpurpose
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
wealthcontentmentdesire
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
controlacceptancepower
“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
improvementhumilitylearning
“The more you value things outside your control, the less control you have.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
controlvaluesfreedom
“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
freedomself-masterycontrol
“Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself.”
Epictetus
Enchiridion
charactercircumstancesself-knowledge