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