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Stoicism Quotes

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Stoicism Quotes

“In the evening I came home and read about the Messina earthquake, and how the relief ships arrived, and the wretched survivors crowded down to the water's edge and tore each other like wild beasts in their rage of hunger. The paper set forth, in horrified language, that some of them had been seventy-two hours without food. I, as I read, had also been seventy-two hours without food; and the difference was simply that they thought they were starving.”

FearMadnessHungerCrowdsStoicismStarvationFastingHuman StupidityHuman Toughness
Book:Fasting Cure
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“In the first place, sensation (aisthesis) is a corporeal process which we have in common with animals, and in which the impression of an exterior object is transmitted to the soul. By means of this process, an image (phantasia) of the object is produced in the soul, or more precisely in the guiding part (hegemonikon) of the soul”

PhilosophyVirtueJudgmentGreekStoicismRomanStoic
Book:The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
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“... we find a complete contradiction in our wishing to live without suffering, a contradiction that is therefore implied by the frequently used phrase “blessed life.” This will certainly be clear to the person who has fully grasped my discussion that follows. This contradiction is revealed in this ethic of pure reason itself by the fact that the Stoic is compelled to insert a recommendation of suicide in his guide to the blissful life (for this is what his ethics always remains). This is like the costly phial of poison to be found among the magnificent ornaments and apparel of oriental despots, and is for the case where the sufferings of the body, incapable of being philosophized away by any principles and syllogisms, are paramount and incurable. Thus its sole purpose, namely blessedness, is frustrated, and nothing remains as a means of escape from pain except death. But then death must be taken with unconcern, just as is any other medicine. Here a marked contrast is evident between the Stoic ethics and all those other ethical systems mentioned above. These ethical systems make virtue directly and in itself the aim and object, even with the most grievous sufferings, and will not allow a man to end his life in order to escape from suffering. But not one of them knew how to express the true reason for rejecting suicide, but they laboriously collected fictitious arguments of every kind. This true reason will appear in the fourth book in connexion with our discussion. But the above-mentioned contrast reveals and confirms just that essential difference to be found in the fundamental principle between the Stoa, really only a special form of eudaemonism, and the doctrines just mentioned, although both often agree in their results, and are apparently related. But the above-mentioned inner contradiction, with which the Stoic ethics is affected even in its fundamental idea, further shows itself in the fact that its ideal, the Stoic sage as represented by this ethical system, could never obtain life or inner poetical truth, but remains a wooden, stiff lay-figure with whom one can do nothing. He himself does not know where to go with his wisdom, and his perfect peace, contentment, and blessedness directly contradict the nature of mankind, and do not enable us to arrive at any perceptive representation thereof. Compared with him, how entirely different appear the overcomers of the world and voluntary penitents, who are revealed to us, and are actually produced, by the wisdom of India; how different even the Saviour of Christianity, that excellent form full of the depth of life, of the greatest poetical truth and highest significance, who stands before us with perfect virtue, holiness, and sublimity, yet in a state of supreme suffering.”

SufferingSuicideStoicismSchopenhauer
Book:The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
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“For some reason, there is this façade that life should be full of happiness and without its suffering. Which, actually makes us suffer even more. Because when we get sad or something bad happens, we do not only feel bad about the thing itself but we also feel bad because our life is not the way it is supposed to be. Not realizing suffering and sadness is just a part of life and they are inevitable.”

LifeHappinessSufferingExistentialismStoicismFaçadei Happy
Book:Modern Human's Handbook
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“A man in a boat is crossing a river when he sees an empty boat on course to collide with him. This doesn’t make him angry even though he’s an angry person. But then he sees someone is in the boat — he calls out, telling them to change direction. When his first call gets no response, he calls out again. And when the second is also met with silence, he calls out a third time, throwing in some insults for good measure. Before, he wasn't angry — now he is. Before, the other boat was empty — now there's someone in it. When you imagine the boats empty you won’t be so angry.”

PhilosophyPoetryPoemEmpathyEmptyChineseTaoismStoicismBoatsZhuangzi
Author:Zhuangzi
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“Life is neither a glorious highlight reel nor a monstrous tragedy. Every day is a good day to live and a good day to die. Every day is also an apt time to learn and express joy and love for the entire natural world. Each day is an apt time to make contact with other people and express empathy for the entire world. Each day is perfect to accept with indifference all aspects of being.”

PerspectiveEmpathyEnlightenmentPhilosophy Of LifeLife And DeathLove LifePeace Of MindStoicismEnlightenment QuotesStoicLiving In The PresentPeaceful LifeEnlightenment PrinciplesLiving In The MomentPeace Of Mind QuotesLiving In The Present MomentPerspective QuotesPerspective On LifeLife And Living InsightLiving In The NowLiving And DyingStoic PhilosophyPeaceful Living
Book:Dead Toad Scrolls
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“Death would not surprise us as often as it does, if we let go of the misbelief that newborns are less mortal than the elderly.”

LifeChildrenPhilosophyHumorKidsAgeFunnyDeathQuotesBeliefHumourBirthJokesHumorousPreparedSurprisePhilosopherOld AgeImmortalityLife And DeathSatireImmortalMortalityFuneralChildSurprisingAphorismDeadDieQuotationsBeliefsJokeStoicismHilariousEldersRipAphorismsHereafterOldMisconceptionOffspringFallacyNewbornLife After DeathTombstoneStoicBurialUnpreparedPhilosophicRest In PeacePrepareAphoristAphoristsKidMortalCycleFuneralsWeepTombAgedMisconceptionsBuryElderFallaciesMisbeliefGone Too SoonStoicsNewbornsMisbeliefsOld Age HomesOld Age HomeTombstonesThe HereafterPhilosophers CryThe Elders
Author:Mokokoma Mokhonoana
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“When he wrote Meditations, Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man in the world. He had, quite literally, a whole empire at his disposal. Cities, armies, palaces. All were his. He spent over a decade, from the year 161 to 180, as Roman emperor during the 'Golden Age'. And yet he resisted seeking any contentment in his status and power, in favour of simplicity, consultation and a cosmic perspective. He believed watching the stars was important and talks about Pythagoras - the early Greek philosopher and founder of Pythagoreanism - as his influence here. The Pythagoreans saw gazing up at the sky not just as a pleasant thing to do, but an insight into a divine order. Because stars are all separate, but all together in an order. For the Stoics, looking at them was looking at unveiled glimpses of divinity - and also fragments of Nature. It is not just the sky or the stars, then, that are important, but what we think when we look at them. Our connection to the shifting world around and above us. 'The universe is change', wrote Marcus Aurelius. 'Our life is what our thoughts make it.' Even a man in charge of an empire could look at the stars and feel happily small in the grand universal order of things. The sky doesn't start above us. There is no starting point for sky. We live in the sky.”

UniverseStarsStoicismNight SkyMarcus AureliusCosmic PerspectiveThe Stoics
Book:The Comfort Book
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“Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don’t talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. For remember that in this manner Socrates also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be recommended by him to philosophers, he took and recommended them, so well did he bear being overlooked. So that if ever any talk should happen among the unlearned concerning philosophic theorems, be you, for the most part, silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don’t throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested.”

PhilosophyLearningModestyStoicism
Book:The Enchiridion & Discourses of Epictetus
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“Patience is the antidote to the restless poison of the Ego. Without it we all become ego-maniacal bulls in china shops, destroying our future happiness as we blindly rush in where angels fear to tread. In these out-of-control moments, we bulldoze through the best possible outcomes for our lives, only to return to the scene of the crime later to cry over spilt milk.”

HappinessLife LessonsDestinyFateAcceptanceFutureEgoPatiencePerseveranceToleranceInner PeaceDecisionsManifestationBlissOutcomesInner StrengthEnduranceFree WillUnconditional LovePeace Of MindHappiness QuotesSerenitySelf ControlRestraintPredictionsTranquilityAngelsStoicismFortitudeCalmnessRestlessnessChoices And ConsequencesEgotisticalManifestingEquanimityIdiomForbearanceComposureBad ChoicesLong SufferingGoing With The FlowStillness Of The MindEgocentrismYieldingRestless HeartIdiomsEgomaniacSpilt
Book:Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny
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“You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”

PathIntegrityEthicsStoicism
Book:The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
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