81 Stoic Quotes Making Their Way into Modern Philosophy
Throughout human history many great thinkers and philosophers have attempted to confront basic existential fears and anxieties and provide answers to what makes life meaningful by proposing different perspectives on how one ought to live their lives in a way that nurtures mental and spiritual development.
Among the many schools of thought that have evolved, Stoicism holds a prominent place and many of its teachings have become incorporated into modern philosophy. Founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens, in the 3rd century BC and further advanced by great thinkers like Chrysippus, Epictetus, Seneca and the eminent Roman philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius, Stoicism is a philosophical system of the Hellenistic period that flourished and became very popular among the educated Greco-Roman elite.
The teachings of the Stoics are founded on the idea that virtue is sufficient for happiness and any endeavor to influence external realities that one cannot control should be avoided. As such, happiness is an internal process emanating from one’s mental state rather than influenced by external factors. In a nutshell, a positive life behavior can lead to a more positive life experience.
Stoicism as a life philosophy of self-sufficiency is as relevant today as it was in ancient times since it provides a compelling system of thought against the anxieties, obstacles and misfortunes of modern life.
Here you will find the most inspirational quotes of the greatest Stoic thinkers to share with loved ones in order to motivate and inspire them but also to transform your perception of the world and mentor you through a meaningful and enhanced life experience.
Table of Contents
- Best Stoic Quotes
- Top Stoic Quotes on Love
- Stoic Quotes on Life and Death
- Stoic Quotes on Control
- Powerful Stoic Quotes
- Stoic Quotes about Anxiety
Best Stoic Quotes
- Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Marcus Aurelius
- If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favorable. Seneca
- Whatever can happen at any time can happen today. Seneca
- Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. Epictetus
- That which Fortune has not given, she cannot take away. Seneca
- It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it. Seneca
- A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is. Seneca
- It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. Seneca
- Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
- Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One. Marcus Aurelius
- If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it. Marcus Aurelius
- All that exists is the seed of what will emerge from it. Marcus Aurelius
- Is a world without pain possible? Then don’t ask the impossible. Marcus Aurelius
- To be everywhere is to be nowhere. Seneca
- Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. Seneca
- No man is good by chance. Virtue is something which must be learned. Seneca
- It’s not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it. Seneca
- What fortune has made yours is not your own. Seneca
- The best revenge is not to be like your enemy. Marcus Aurelius
- I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid. Cato
- There is no genius without a touch of madness. Aristotle
- Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things. Marcus Aurelius
- Treat your inferiors in the way in which you would like to be treated by your own superiors. Seneca
- Where you arrive does not matter as much as what sort of person you are when you arrive there. Seneca
- No human thing is of serious importance. Plato
- It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. Epictetus
- Why should we pay so much attention to what the majority thinks? Socrates
- The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less. Zeno of Citium
- You need not look about for the reward of a just deed; a just deed in itself offers a still greater return. Seneca
- Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too. Marcus Aurelius
- Many are the things that have caused terror during the night and been turned into matters of laughter with the coming of daylight. Seneca
- Remember:Matter. How tiny your share of it.Time. How brief and fleeting your allotment of it.Fate. How small a role you play in it. Marcus Aurelius
- Show me a man who though sick is happy, who though in danger is happy, who though in prison is happy, and I’ll show you a Stoic. Epictetus
- It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own. Marcus Aurelius
Top Stoic Quotes on Love
Stoic Philosopher Seneca and other important thinkers share their views on love.
- I love to go and see all the things I am happy without. Socrates
- What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself. Seneca
- Love sometimes injures. Friendship always benefits, after friendship is formed you must trust, but before that you must judge. Seneca
- You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. Marcus Aurelius
- The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best. Epictetus
Stoic Quotes on Life and Death
Stoic philosophers urge us not to fear death but use the knowledge that our lives have an inescapable end as a motivation to live in the present moment.
- The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately. Seneca
- The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Marcus Aurelius
- Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back. Marcus Aurelius
- You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. Marcus Aurelius
- You are scared of dying — and, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different than being dead? Seneca
- It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body; for it is better to die than to live badly. Epictetus
- When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval. Epictetus
- Disgraceful if, in this life where your body does not fail, your soul should fail you first. Marcus Aurelius
- Hang on to your youthful enthusiasms — you’ll be able to use them better when you’re older. Seneca
- This is our big mistake: to think we look forward to death. Most of death is already gone. Whatever time has passed is owned by death. Seneca
- I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you. Seneca
- If you admit to having derived great pleasures, your duty is not to complain about what has been taken away but to be thankful for what you have been given. Seneca
- Seek not for events to happen as you wish but rather wish for events to happen as they do and your life will go smoothly. Epictetus
- In your actions, don’t procrastinate. In your conversations, don’t confuse. In your thoughts, don’t wander. In your soul, don’t be passive or aggressive. In your life, don’t be all about business. Marcus Aurelius
- Soon, you will have forgotten everything.Soon, everybody will have forgotten you. Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Quotes on Control
- Order your soul. Reduce your wants. Augustine of Hippo
- Man conquers the world by conquering himself. Zeno of Citium
- No man is free who is not master of himself. Epictetus
- Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods. Socrates
- He has the most who is content with the least. Diogenes
- Pleasures, when they go beyond a certain limit, are but punishments. Seneca
- Anything or anyone capable of angering you becomes your master. Epictetus
- Curb your desire—don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need. Epictetus
- How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. Marcus Aurelius
- Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have. Epictetus
- We should always be asking ourselves: Is this something that is, or is not, in my control? Epictetus
Powerful Stoic Quotes
- First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus
- The willing are led by fate, the reluctant are dragged. Cleanthes of Assos
- If it’s endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. Marcus Aurelius
- You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. Marcus Aurelius
- External thinks are not the problem. It’s your assessment of them. Which you can erase right now. Marcus Aurelius
- If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you have both demeaned yourself ill in that and quitted one which you might have supported. Epictetus
- It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet. Marcus Aurelius
- It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult. Seneca
- Stop drifting…Sprint to the finish. Write off your hopes, and if your well-being matters to you, be your own savior while you can. Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Quotes about Anxiety
- How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them? Seneca
- The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable. Seneca
- They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn. Seneca
- Many of the anxieties that harass you are superfluous. Expand into an ampler region, letting your thought sweep over the entire universe. Marcus Aurelius
- Nothing is burdensome if taken lightly, and nothing need arouse one’s irritation so long as one doesn’t make it bigger than it is by getting irritated. Seneca
- What upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things. Epictetus
- The mind, unconquered by violent passions, is a citadel, for a man has no fortress more impregnable in which to find refuge and remain safe forever. Marcus Aurelius
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