Philosophical Resources
The Stoics were the original cognitive behavioral therapists. Marcus Aurelius was a soldier and statesman. Epictetus was a slave. Seneca was a playwright and great orator. But all committed to the very personal journey toward Stoic resilience, holding themselves accountable along the way.
The timeless wisdom and applicable tools within the philosophy are widely recognized by psychologists, life coaches and self help gurus of today.
IMPORTANT STOIC QUOTES
"Some things are in our control and others not." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 1
"You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.36
"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." — Seneca, Letters 13
"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.16
"It is not things that disturb us, but our judgments about things." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste much of it." — Seneca, On the Shortness of Life 1
"You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.11
"Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 8
"Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body." — Seneca, On Providence 2
"If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.17
"No man is free who is not master of himself." — Epictetus, Discourses 2.1
"Nothing is ours, except time." — Seneca, On the Shortness of Life 1
"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 13
"Associate with people who are likely to improve you." — Seneca, Letters 7
"Be like the rock against which the waves continually break." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.49
"No man was ever wise by chance." — Seneca, Letters 76
"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." — Epictetus, Discourses 3.23
"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.7
"He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary." — Seneca, Letters 13
"Remember that you are an actor in a drama." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 17
"The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.16
"Fire tests gold; adversity tests brave men." — Seneca, On Providence 5
"No great thing is created suddenly." — Epictetus, Discourses 1.15
"Confine yourself to the present." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.36
"Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it." — Seneca, On Anger 1.3
"Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3
"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life." — Seneca, Letters 101
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.47
"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." — Epictetus, Discourses 2.17
"True happiness is to enjoy the present." — Seneca, Letters 23
"Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.59
"To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
"The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy." — Seneca, Letters 101
"Do every act of your life as though it were the very last act of your life." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.5
"Only the educated are free." — Epictetus, Discourses 2.1
"The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately." — Seneca, Letters 101
"What is not good for the hive is not good for the bee." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.54
"If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself." — Epictetus, Enchiridion 33
"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." — Seneca, Letters 78
"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.6
"If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable." — Seneca, Letters 71
"Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly." — Epictetus, Discourses 3.1
"Adapt yourself to the life which you have been given." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.57
"He who is brave is free." — Seneca, Letters 51
"Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of men's desires, but by the removal of desire." — Epictetus, Discourses 4.1
"Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3
"He is most powerful who has power over himself." — Seneca, Letters 113
"When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it." — Epictetus, Discourses 1.1
"Receive without pride, let go without attachment." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.33
"The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable." — Seneca, Letters 98
Essential Stoic Texts
Modern Stoicism
Stoicism has enjoyed quite a resurgence in the 21st Century. Re-appropriating the philosophy for today's times, self-help coaches and authors dust off the modern era Stoic scrolls.