The following Stoic quotes contain a wealth of wisdom. In case you are wondering what this term means, here is a brief description for you:
If you show indifference to both pain and pleasure as a matter of principle, then you are being stoic. This term is derived from the Stoic philosophy of the ancient philosopher Zeno of Citium, who lived around 300 B.C. According to Stoicism, a wise man should be free from passion and not be affected by sorrow or joy. The name of the public hall where Zeno started his lectures, Stoa Poikile, served as the inspiration for the name of this school of philosophy.
This is a collection of quotes from three of the most notable Stoic philosophers: Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. These quotations are insightful and profound. As you read each of these quotes, reflect on them and think about their applicability to your life circumstances.
If you have come across this term for the very first time in your life and find yourself rather intrigued by it and would like to dig deeper into it, then you can find some great information here: Stoicism
Stoic Quotes About Life
1. “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
2. “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
3. “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus
4. “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
5. “A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope.” – Epictetus
6. “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.” – Seneca
7. “If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” – Seneca
8. “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” – Marcus Aurelius
9. “Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting?” – Marcus Aurelius
10. “Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.” – Seneca
11. “Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.” – Epictetus
Quotes About Personal Development
12. “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – Epictetus
13. “Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.” – Epictetus
14. “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?” – Epictetus
15. “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” – Epictetus
16. “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” – Epictetus
17. “That’s why the philosophers warn us not to be satisfied with mere learning, but to add practice and then training. For as time passes we forget what we learned and end up doing the opposite, and hold opinions the opposite of what we should.” – Epictetus
18. “The best answer to anger is silence.” – Marcus Aurelius
19. “I shall show you a love potion without a drug, without a herb; without the incantation of any sorceress: if you want to be loved, love.” – Seneca
20. “When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.” – Epictetus
21. “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” – Marcus Aurelius
22. “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
Quotes About Criticism
23. “If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would have not mentioned these alone.’ ” – Epictetus
24. “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” – Marcus Aurelius
Quotes About Being Grateful
25. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius
26. “Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.” – Seneca
Stoic Quotes About Control
27. “We should always be asking ourselves: ‘Is this something that is, or is not, in my control?’ ” – Epictetus
28. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
29. “The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.” – Marcus Aurelius
30. “Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” – Epictetus
31. “Curb your desire—don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need.” – Epictetus
32. “No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have.” – Seneca
33. “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…” – Epictetus
34. “The tranquility that comes when you stop caring what they say. Or think, or do. Only what you do. Not to be distracted by their darkness. To run straight for the finish line, unswerving.” – Marcus Aurelius
Quotes About Living In The Present
35. “Each day provides its own gifts.” – Marcus Aurelius
36. “Give yourself a gift, the present moment.” – Marcus Aurelius
37. “While we wait for life, life passes.” – Seneca
38. “Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.” – Seneca
Stoic Quotes About Hardships and Struggle
39. “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” – Seneca
40. “To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.” – Seneca
41. “Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish.” Marcus Aurelius
42. “It is difficulties that show what men are.” – Epictetus
43. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” – Seneca
44. “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” – Seneca
45. “No great thing is created suddenly.” – Epictetus
46. “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” – Seneca
47. “How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?” – Seneca
48. “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
Quotes About Wealth
49. “Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” – Epictetus
50. “The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.” – Marcus Aurelius
