A library of wisdom
Stoicism — Quotes
Stoicism is the most-tested philosophy in human history — practised by Roman emperors, freed slaves, and quietly today by anyone reading a book by Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, or Se A curated set of 30 quotes from the Stoicism tradition.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.”
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Confine yourself to the present.”
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
“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.”
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”
“Choose not to be harmed — and you will not feel harmed. Choose not to feel harmed — and you have not been.”
“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”
“It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
“Don't explain your philosophy. Embody it.”
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
“We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
“Some things are in our control and others are not. Therein lies the entire foundation of philosophy.”
“You become what you give your attention to.”
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body.”
“Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.”
“As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”
“While we are postponing, life speeds by.”
“Life, if well lived, is long enough.”
“All cruelty springs from weakness.”
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”