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Stoic Quotes

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Stoic Quotes

“Horror grows impatient, rhetorically, with the Stoic fatalism of Ecclesiastes. That we are all going to die, that death mocks and cancels every one of our acts and attainments and every moment of our life histories, this knowledge is to storytelling what rust is to oxidation; the writer of horror holds with those who favor fire. The horror writer is not content to report on death as the universal system of human weather; he or she chases tornadoes. Horror is Stoicism with a taste for spectacle.”

HumansMomentsDiesGrowsFireOur LivesTasteHorrorUniversalFavorsStorytellingWeatherReportsStoicismImpatientAttainmentRustStoicTornadoesFatalismEcclesiastes
Author:Michael Chabon
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“If I were a person of color in Florida, I would pick up a brick and start walking toward that courthouse in Sanford. Those that do not, those that hold the pain and betrayal inside and somehow manage to resist violence - these citizens are testament to a stoic tolerance that is more than the rest of us deserve. I confess, their patience and patriotism is well beyond my own.”

IfsWellsPersonsPainMy OwnViolenceColorCitizensWalkingPicksDeserveBetrayalToleranceManageFloridaTestamentBricksStoicCourthouses
Author:David Simon
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“If the essence of cynicism consists in preferring nature to art, virtue to beauty and science; in not bothering about the letter of things -- to which the Stoic strictly adheres -- but in looking up to the spirit of things; in absolute contempt of all economic values and political splendor, and in courageous defence of the rights of independent freedom; then Christianity would be nothing but universal cynicism.”

IfsArtWould BePoliticalSpiritValuesChristianityVirtueRightsEconomicLettersEssenceUniversalAbsolutesIndependentBotherCourageousContemptCynicismDefenceSplendorStoicEconomic Value
Author:Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
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“I'm an atheist, I always thought, 'This is it.' If there is going to be a heaven, it should be on earth. I feel much happier than most people. I'm fairly stoic about death, but I'm not keen on dying if it's going to be long and protracted. I don't have dark nights of the soul, except occasionally. I'm such a little busy bee.”

PeopleIfsFeelsShouldLittlesLongSoulEarthNightHeavenDarkDyingBusyAtheistBeesStoicDark NightDark Night Of The SoulBusy Bee
Author:Edmund White
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“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

InspirationalMindMotivationalRealizingWorryPowerStrengthEventsPositive ThinkingWeaknessWeakInner StrengthThought ProvokingBullyingSelf ControlLive In The MomentWise Man Once SaidAntiquityMind ControlStoicPower Of The MindStrength And WeaknessStrength Of WillCourage StrengthStrength Of MindHaving StrengthGreat EventsTrue StrengthAnti BullyingPower And StrengthInspirational StrengthGetting StrongerFinding StrengthStrength WeaknessBullying InspirationalInspirational BullyingSelf StrengthStrength WithinLove StrengthPower StrengthControlling PowerStrength And LoveBravery And StrengthShort StrengthStrength In Hard TimesMotivational StrengthPowerful MindStronger Than You Think
Book:Meditations
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“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”

IfsReasonTodayFearWorryAdventureArmsWise WordsFutureWeaponsRationalityYour FutureMy FutureWise Man Once SaidLive In The PresentDisturbanceEquanimityPast And PresentStoicStop WorryingPast PresentPast Present And FuturePast Present FuturePresent FutureFuture And PresentUncertain FuturePast FutureFuture Thinking
Author:Marcus Aurelius
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“The problem a lot of writers have is that they really, really enjoy people saying, "You're brilliant." They let their self-perception be dictated by reader response. But if you're going to let other people make you feel good, you're going to end up feeling bad when they say the opposite. You've got to be a cultural stoic. Then you won't be devastated by people who respond negatively. Of course, the downside is that it sort of stops you from being able to enjoy people liking your work.”

PeopleIfsFeelsEndsSelfFeelingsProblemAbleCoursesEnjoyLike YouReaderPerceptionOppositesResponseBrilliantFeel GoodDevastatedStoicMake You Feel GoodSelf PerceptionFeeling Bad
Author:Chuck Klosterman
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“When I think of Britain, I don't think of these lofty ideals which once held sway like the stoic upper lip. I think of girls on a Saturday night outside kebab shops stabbing each other with stiletto heels or guys smashing glasses into someone's face. I think of shows like Big Brother which celebrate people's discomfort and anguish or kids committing these terrifying happy slapping acts of brutality to each other at the drop of a hat.”

ThinkingKidsNightGuyGirlBrotherCelebrateHeelsSaturdayAnguishSaturday NightStoic
Author:Kele Okereke
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“The Stoic discipline of action, which is connected to the virtue of justice, says that we ought to treat others fairly and we should engage in social and political activity. This is further supported by the Stoic idea of cosmopolitanism, and by the famous "circles of concern" identified by Hierocles, who counseled that we should refer to other people as brothers and sisters, to constantly remind ourselves that we are members of the same human family.”

PeopleActionPoliticalJusticeVirtueBrotherDisciplineConcernBrothers And SistersStoic
Author:Massimo Pigliucci
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“I think also just being from the Midwest, my dad was a stoic Midwesterner, he always told me never take anything for granted and you have to work for what you get so. That's funny because my friend Frank Anderson said something really funny he goes, "A lot of the people from the midwest are the laziest shits I've ever met." And he's right. I know some. You can't say its a stereotype that only people from the Midwest are that way because there are definitely people I know who hate to work and just want to hang out and drink beer.”

PeopleThinkingHateDadDrinkMy DadGrantedBeerHanging OutFrankStereotypeStoic
Author:Butch Vig
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“The problem a lot of writers have is that they really enjoy people saying, "You're brilliant." They let their self-perception be dictated by reader response. But if you're going to let other people make you feel good, you're going to end up feeling bad when they say the opposite. You've got to be a cultural stoic. Then you won't be devastated by people who respond negatively. Of course, the downside is that it sort of stops you from being able to enjoy people liking your work.”

PeopleFeelingsProblemEnjoyLike YouResponseBrilliantFeel GoodDevastatedStoicFeeling Bad
Author:Chuck Klosterman
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“I hung out with a lot of the riders to get their attitude and they're all like men. Men among boys. They have a certain calm to them which is really impressive. They go out there and they're racing 80 miles per hour, or jumping 60 foot jumps, I think they get all their adrenaline out. So during the day, they're just quiet, aloof and stoic superheroes kinda, you know what I mean? They're very, very respectful. It's a very family oriented sport. Everybody knows everybody so there's a lot of respect and understanding.”

ThinkingMenMeanSportsUnderstandingHoursAttitudeBoysQuietCalmRacingHungSuperheroImpressiveRespectfulAdrenalineStoicAloof
Author:Steve Howey
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“A good social system is not to be secured by making people unselfish, but, by making their own vital impulses fit in with other peoples. This is feasible. Those who have produced stoic philosophies have all had enough to eat and drink. I feel I shall find the truth on my deathbed and be surrounded by people too stupid to understand—fussing about medicines instead of searching for wisdom. I hate being all tidy like a book in a library where nobody reads – prison is horribly like that.”

PeopleFeelsBookEnoughPhilosophyHateSocialStupidFitDrinkI HateMedicinePrisonLibraryImpulseHad EnoughSecuredUnselfishDeathbedTidyStoicSocial SystemsFussing
Author:Bertrand Russell
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“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities. God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe.”

IfsBelieveEnoughFactsDreamFacesMovingOpportunityWaitingSoundChancePrayerAnswersPrayingShapesDeterminationEmbraceDon't BelieveDelightYour DreamsRejoiceKeep MovingGrimStoic
Author:Jeffrey R. Holland
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“Before you realize this truth, say the Yogis, you will always be in despair, a notion nicely expressed in this exasperated line from the Greek stoic philosopher Epictetus: 'You bear God within you, poor wretch, and know it not.”

KnowsRealizingLinesPoorBearsDespairNotionPhilosopherGreekWithin YouStoicYogi
Book:The Complete Elizabeth Gilbert: Eat, Pray, Love; Committed; The Last American Man; Stern Men & Pilgrims
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“Yeah, and so Max and Dylan are supposed to, like, go to Germany and have kids together," I heard Gazzy say. My eyes popped open and I bolted upright. "What?" Fang said, his voice icy. "Gazzy!" I yelled. Wide blue eyes looked at me in surprise, then back at Fang's stoic face. "Oh. Was I not supposed to say anything?" Gazzy asked.”

SaidEyeKidsTogetherFacesVoiceHeardBlueYeahSurpriseWideGermanySay AnythingDylanMaxFangsBlue EyesStoicIcyMaximum Ride
Author:James Patterson
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“He should have said something, why hadn't he? Costis wondered. In fact, the king had. He had complained at every step all the way across the palace, and they'd ignored it. If he'd been stoic and denied the pain, the entire palace would have been in a panic already, Eddisian soldiers on the move. He'd meant to deceive them, and he'd succeeded. It made Costis wonder for the first time just how much the stoic man really wants to hide when he unsuccessfully pretends not to be in pain.”

IfsMenWayWantShouldFirstsHas BeensMadeSaidFactsPainMovingWonderStepsKingsFirst TimeShould HaveSoldierDeniedPanicDeceivingIgnoredPalacesEvery StepStoic
Author:Megan Whalen Turner
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