Stoicism - Stoic Quotations

Stoic Quotations

Below are some quotations from major Stoic philosophers, selected to illustrate common Stoic beliefs:

Epictetus:

• "Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire." (iv.1.175)
• "Where is the good? In the will. Where is the evil? In the will. Where is neither of them? In those things that are independent of the will." (ii.16.1)
• "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." (Ench. 5)
• "If, therefore, any be unhappy, let him remember that he is unhappy by reason of himself alone." (iii.24.2)
• "I am formed by nature for my own good: I am not formed for my own evil." (iii.24.83)
• "Permit nothing to cleave to you that is not your own; nothing to grow to you that may give you agony when it is torn away." (iv.1.112)

Marcus Aurelius:

• "Get rid of the judgment, get rid of the 'I am hurt,' you are rid of the hurt itself." (viii.40)
• "Everything is right for me that is right for you, O Universe. Nothing for me is too early or too late that comes in due time for you. Everything is fruit to me that your seasons bring, O Nature. From you are all things, in you are all things, to you all things return." (iv.23)
• "If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word that you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this." (iii.12)
• "How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything that happens in life!" (xii.13)
• "Outward things cannot touch the soul, not in the least degree; nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul; but the soul turns and moves itself alone." (v 19)
• "Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man; but if anything is within the powers and province of man, believe that it is within your own compass also" (vi.19)
• "Or is it your reputation that's bothering you? But look at how soon we're all forgotten. The abyss of endless time that swallows it all. The emptiness of those applauding hands." (iv.3)

Seneca the Younger:

• "The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live." (Ep. 101.15)
• "That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away." (Ep. 59.18)
• "Let Nature deal with matter, which is her own, as she pleases; let us be cheerful and brave in the face of everything, reflecting that it is nothing of our own that perishes." (De Provid. v.8)
• "Virtue is nothing else than right reason." (Ep. 66.32)