We’ve scoured the ancient sources for the best Stoicism quotes on life, death, and happiness:
3. Epictetus
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Seneca the Younger
The following Seneca quotes come from Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales (Moral Letters to Lucilius) a free resource for which can be found here. In some cases where the author’s English translation was not clear, we have retranslated the quotes from the original Latin. References provided at the end of each quote indicate the letter (in Roman numerals) and section of the letter (in Arabic numerals) the quote came from.
1. While we delay, life speeds by. (I.2)
2. The primary indication of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company. (II.1)
3. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. (II.6)
4. When friendship is settled, you must trust; before the friendship is formed, you must pass judgment. (III.2)
5. Beasts avoid the dangers which they see, and when they have escaped them are free from care; but we men torment ourselves over that which is to come as well as over that which is past. (V. 9)
6. No good thing is pleasant to possess without friends to share it. (VI.4)
7. Associate with those that will make a better man of you. (VII.8)
8. One man means as much to me as a multitude and a multitude as much as one man. (VII.10) – quoting Democritus
9. Scorn the pleasure that comes with the applause of the majority. (VII.12)
10. A man is sheltered just as well by thatch as by a roof of gold. (VIII.5)
11. Let us cherish and love old age; for it is full of pleasure if one knows how to use it. (XII.4)
12. No prizefighter can go with high spirits into the fight if he has never been beaten black and blue. (XIII.2)
13. Even bad fortune is fickle. Perhaps it will come, perhaps not; in the meantime, it is not here. So look forward to better things. (XIII.11)
14. Without philosophy the mind is sickly, and the body, too, though it may be very powerful, is strong only as that of a madman or lunatic is strong. (XV.1)
15. It shows much more courage to remain dry and sober when the mob is drunk and vomiting; but it shows greater self-control to refuse to withdraw oneself and to do what the crowd does, but in a different way – thus neither making oneself conspicuous nor becoming one of the crowd. (XVIII.4)
16. Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while “Is this the condition that I feared?” (XVIII.5)
17. Prove your words by your deeds. (XX.1)
18. Philosophy teaches us to act, not to speak. (XX.2)
19. Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long. Although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long. (XXII.17)
20. Pleasure, unless it has been kept within bounds, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of sorrow. (XXIII.6)
21. It is indeed foolish to be unhappy now because you may be unhappy at some future time. (XXIV.1)
22. For every day, a little of our life is taken from us even when we are growing, our life is one the wane. (XIV.20)
23. You do not know where death awaits you; so be ready for it everywhere. (XVI.7)
24. No man is able to borrow or buy a sound mind. (XVII.8)
25. Why do you wonder that traveling abroad does not help you, seeing that you always take yourself with you? The person that set you wandering is ever at your heels. – Quoting Socrates, (XVIII.2)
26. For who that is pleased by virtue can please the crowd? (XIX.11)
27. Be deaf to those who love you most of all; they pray for bad things with good intentions. (XXXI.2)
28. Work is the sustenance of noble minds. (XXXI.5)
29. He who follows another not only discovers nothing but is not even investigating. (XXXIII.10)
30. If reason becomes your ruler, you will become ruler over many. (XXXVII.4)
31. A good conscience welcomes the crowd, but a bad conscience, even in solitude, is disturbed and troubled. (XLIII.5)
32. A noble mind is free to all men. (XLIV.2)
33. Treat your inferiors as you would want to be treated by your betters. (XLVII.11)
34. Kindness is clothed in openness and simplicity. (XLVIII.12)
35. Infinitely swift is the flight of time, as those can see who are looking backwards. (XLIX.2)
36. Whenever I wish to enjoy the quips of a clown, I am not compelled to hunt far. I can laugh at myself. (L.2)
37. Nobody recognizes that he himself is greedy. (L.3)
38. Learning virtue means unlearning vice. (L.7)
39. We should approach our emancipation from vice with greater spirit because, when once we receive it, it is in our possession forever; virtue is not unlearned. (L.8)
40. If any vice tears at your heart, cast it away from you; and if you cannot be rid of it in any other way, pluck out your heart, too. (LI.13)
41. Devote yourself wholly to philosophy. You are worthy of her, she is worthy of you; greet one another with a loving embrace. (LIII.8)
42. Our luxuries have condemned us to weakness; we are no longer even able to do the things we have kept away from. (LV.1)
43. The wise man is joyful, happy, and calm. Unshaken, he lives on a plane with the gods. (LIX.14)
44. The man who does something under orders is not unhappy; he is unhappy who does something against his will. (LXI.3)
45. The shortest path to wealth is to despise wealth. (LXII.3)
46. Let not the eyes be dry when we have lost a friend, nor let them overflow. We may weep, but we must not wail. (LXIII.1)
Marcus Aurelius
The following quotes come from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, a free English translation of which is provided online by the Classics Department at MIT.
1. Since it is possible that you may depart from life at this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. (Book II)
2. Nothing is more wretched than a man who…seeks by conjecture what is in the minds of his neighbors without perceiving that it is sufficient to attend to the daemon within him and remove it sincerely. (Book II)
3. No man loses any other life than that which he is now living, nor lives any other life than that which he is now losing. (Book II)
4. Do not waste the remainder of your life in thoughts about others when you do not refer your thoughts to some object of common utility. (Book III)
5. A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others. (Book III)
6. Even the longest fame is short after death. (Book III)
7. Let no act be done without a purpose, nor otherwise than according to the perfect principles of art. (Book IV)
8. All these things which you see change at this very moment and will no longer be. (Book IV)
9. Take away the complaint “I have been harmed” and the harm has been taken away. (Book IV)
10. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is still in your power, be good. (Book IV)
11. He who has a vehement desire for fame after death does not consider that everyone of those who remember him will die very shortly. (Book IV)
12. Be like the promontory against which the waves continuously break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it. (Book IV)
13. In the morning when you rise unwillingly, let this thought be present – I am rising to the work of a human being. (Book V)
14. A man, when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to come see, but goes on to another act, as a vine goes on to produce grapes again. (Book V)
15. To seek what is impossible is madness. (Book V)
16. Nothing happens to any man which he is not formed by nature to bear. (Book V)
17. Good fortune is good disposition of the soul, good emotions, and good actions. (Book V)
18. The best way of avenging yourself is not to become like the wrong-doer. (Book VI)
19. If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think or act right, I will gladly change. (Book VI)
20. How many pleasures have been enjoyed by robbers, patricides, and tyrants? (Book VI)
21. Adapt yourself to things with which your lot has been cast. (Book VI)
22. Pass your life in truth and justice with a benevolent disposition even to liars and unjust men. (Book VI)
23. Accustom yourself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and, as much as possible, be in the speaker’s mind. (Book VI)
24. No man will hinder you from living according to the reason of your own nature. (Book VI)
25. Don’t be ashamed to be helped. (Book VII)
26. Think not so much of what you don’t have, but what you do have. (Book VII)
27. Look within. Within is the fountain of good and it will bubble up if you will ever dig. (Book VII)
28. Very little indeed is necessary for living a happy life. (Book VII)
29. It is in your power to live free from all compulsion in the greatest tranquility of mind. (Book VII)
30. Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance and be ready to let it go. (Book VIII)
31. If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now. (Book VIII)
32. Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them or bear with them. (Book VIII)
33. It is your duty to leave another man’s wrongful act where it is. (Book IX)
34. No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such a man. (Book X)
Epictetus
The following Epictetus quotes are from two works, The Enchiridion and The Discourses. See here for online access to The Enchiridion and here for access to The Discourses.
1. When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. (Enchiridion.5)
2. Don’t demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well. (Enchiridion.8)
3. With every accident, ask yourself what abilities you have for making a proper use of it. (Enchiridion.10)
4. Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. If it is his pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. For this is your business, to act well the character assigned you; to choose it is another’s. (Enchiridion.17)
5. Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death, and you win never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything. (Enchiridion.21)
6. As a mark is not set up for the sake of missing the aim, so neither does the nature of evil exist in the world. (Enchiridion.27)
7. If a person gave your body to any stranger he met on his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in handing over your own mind to be confused and mystified by anyone who happens to verbally attack you? (Enchiridion.28)
8. Be for the most part silent, or speak merely what is necessary, and in few words. (Enchiridion.33)
9. If anyone tells you that such a person speaks ill of you, don’t make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: ” He does not know my other faults, else he would not have mentioned only these.” (Enchiridion.33)
10. When walking, you are careful not to step on a nail or turn your foot; so likewise be careful not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And, if we were to guard against this in every action, we should undertake the action with the greater safety. (Enchiridion.38)
11. These reasonings are unconnected: “I am richer than you, therefore I am better”; “I am more eloquent than you, therefore I am better.” The connection is rather this: “I am richer than you, therefore my property is greater than yours;” “I am more eloquent than you, therefore my style is better than yours.” But you, after all, are neither property nor style. (Enchiridion.44)
12. Does anyone bathe in a mighty little time? Don’t say that he does it ill, but in a mighty little time. Does anyone drink a great quantity of wine? Don’t say that he does ill, but that he drinks a great quantity. For, unless you perfectly understand the principle from which anyone acts, how should you know if he acts ill? Thus you will not run the hazard of assenting to any appearances but such as you fully comprehend. (Enchiridion.45)
13. This instant, then, think yourself worthy of living as a man grown up, and a proficient. Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law. And if any instance of pain or pleasure, or glory or disgrace, is set before you, remember that now is the combat, now the Olympiad comes on, nor can it be put off. (Enchiridion.50)
14. What, then, did Agrippinus say? He said, “I am not a hindrance to myself.” When it was reported to him that his trial was going on in the Senate, he said, “I hope it may turn out well; but it is the fifth hour of the day”- this was the time when he was used to exercise himself and then take the cold bath- “let us go and take our exercise.” After he had taken his exercise, one comes and tells him, “You have been condemned.” “To banishment,” he replies, “or to death?” “To banishment.” “What about my property?” “It is not taken from you.” “Let us go to Aricia then,” he said, “and dine.” (Discourses 1.1)
15. What do you think that Hercules would have been if there had not been such a lion, and hydra, and stag, and boar, and certain unjust and bestial men, whom Hercules used to drive away and clear out? And what would he have been doing if there had been nothing of the kind? Is it not plain that he would have wrapped himself up and have slept? In the first place, then he would not have been a Hercules, when he was dreaming away all his life in such luxury and case; and even if he had been one what would have been the use of him? (Discourses, 1.6)
16. Never in reply to the question, to what country you belong, say that you are an Athenian or a Corinthian, but that you are a citizen of the world. For why do you say that you are an Athenian, and why do you not say that you belong to the small nook only into which your poor body was cast at birth? (Discourses, 1.9)
17. When the man, who was consulting him, said, “I seek to know this- how, even if my brother is not reconciled to me, shall I maintain myself in a state conformable to nature?” Nothing great, said Epictetus, is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. Is, then, the fruit of a fig-tree not perfected suddenly and in one hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man’s mind in so short a time and so easily? Do not expect it, even if I tell you. (Discourses, 1.15)
18. What then does the character of a citizen promise? To hold nothing as profitable to himself; to deliberate about nothing as if he were detached from the community, but to act as the hand or foot would do, if they had reason and understood the constitution of nature, for they would never put themselves in motion nor desire anything, otherwise than with reference to the whole. (Discourses, 2.10)
19. When I see a man anxious, I say, “What does this man want? If he did not want something which is not in his power, how could he be anxious?” (Discourses, 2.13)
20. Wherefore Rufus generally attempted to discourage, and he used this method as a test of those who had a good natural disposition and those who had not. “For,” it was his habit to say, “as a stone, if you cast it upward, will be brought down to the earth by its own nature, so the man whose mind is naturally good, the more you repel him, the more he turns toward that to which he is naturally inclined.” (Discourses, 3.6)
21. When a man has such things to think on, and sees the sun, the moon and stars, and enjoys earth and sea, he is not solitary nor even helpless. Practice sometimes a way of living like a man in health. Abstain from food, drink water, abstain sometimes altogether from desire, in order that you may some time desire consistently with reason; and if consistently with reason, when you have anything good in you, you will desire well. (Discourses, 3.13)
22. As bad tragic actors cannot sing alone, but in company with many: so some persons cannot walk about alone. Man, if you are anything, both walk alone and talk to yourself, and do not hide yourself in the chorus. Examine a little at last, look around, stir yourself up, that you may know who you are. (Discourses, 3.14)
23. If a man has frequent intercourse with others, either for talk, or drinking together, or generally for social purposes, he must either become like them, or change them to his own fashion. For if a man places a piece of quenched charcoal close to a piece that is burning, either the quenched charcoal will quench the other, or the burning charcoal will light that which is quenched. (Discourses, 3.16)
Zeno of Citium
While none of Zeno’s works survive, some of his sayings were preserved by the the writer Diogenes Laertius in his work, The Lives and Opinions of Famous Philosophers. The portion dedicated to the life of Zeno of Citium can be found here.
1. The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen more and talk less. (Lives and Opinions, 23)
2. He is best of all men who follows good advice: good, too, is he who finds out all things for himself. (Lives and Opinions, 25)
3. Better to trip with the feet than the tongue. (Lives and Opinions, 26)
4. The goal of Stoicism is to live life in agreement with nature. (Lives and Opinions, 87)
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