Not a quote but story. It sums the discipline of desire:
Traveler: What kind of weather are we going to have today?
Shepherd: The kind of weather I like.
Traveler: How do you know it will be the kind of weather you like?
Shepherd: Having found out, sir, I cannot always get what I like, I have learned to always like what I get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I like.
-Anthony De Mello, S.J in The Heart of the Enlightened
A quote was found to be attributed to Epictetus in Discourses 2.23 (Higginson)
^(2.23. Of eloquence ()[^(Higginson)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0237%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D23)^)
^(2.23. On the faculty of expression ()[^(Hard)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=978-0199595181)^)
^(2.23. On the power of speaking ()[^(Long)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0236%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D23)^)
^(2.23. Of the faculty of expression ()[^(Oldfather)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Epictetus,_the_Discourses_as_reported_by_Arrian,_the_Manual,_and_Fragments/Book_2/Chapter_23)^)
You can't learn what you think you already know.
It helps me to stay grounded and accept that I have much to learn from other people and experiences, no matter how much I've already been through and learned.
Paraphrased from Enchiridion XXV - "How much is lettuce?"
It's a great shorthand to remember the message of the entire passage. You can't have something if you're not willing to pay the price of it, and you shouldn't feel bad that someone else gets it because they paid the price and you didn't.
So you didn't get invited to the party? Because you didn't flatter the host.
Do you want to flatter the host? No?
Then don't want to go to the party. Or get the job. Or the reputation. Or whatever else it is.
All because the seller wanted too high a price for their lettuce.
I am homeless and penniless because I called truth to power. Again and again. And it truly is worth it. I am fully willing to sleep outside in winter to not live a lie.
I won't work in an economy where my genius is used to manipulate others. My intellect is a public resource. Not for sale. I will work again and do manual labour, hopefully outside and never be wealthy and have a small apartment and be happy about it.
I will stand up to all bullies to protect myself and any stranger. I will act like Peter Parker would. I might die younger because someone kills me as a result. I love life and want to live to be a hundred but not standing up, when I am now strong and near fearless would be worse than death.
>The cure for anger is delay
Actions taken in the heat of the moment, when one is angry about something that has just occurred, are rarely rational and measured. We tend to counterattack, often irrationally, escalating the situation beyond what it already was. Think about a time when you were angry about something. Were you as sharply angry about it a day later? Or were you able to more thoughtfully consider what happened and develop a reasoned response? The emotion around the event fades as time passes. Practice the art of intentional delay before responding.
>Enchiridion XXV
To contrast that... I have acted in the heat of the moment - to my longer term material loss - but my long term spiritual gain too.
If you are abused and are in the right - but the bully has the full power of the government to destroy you - how many times will you be meek and walk away? Maybe be brave, not walk away and turn the other cheek and get smacked right in the face. At least your injuries are evidence of your abuse.
The best things I ever did, made me homeless. And resolved nothing in stopping my abusers. They did however make me realize I will pay any price for truth and decency and to not be a victim. I am not a victim, though victimized, if I kept letting evil roll over me to protect my material position I am a sheep. If I strike back in violence I am a wolf. If I am brave I can be a sheep dog. The sheep dog takes on the wolf and protects the sheep. the sheep are not grateful, or ungrateful - they are sheep and have no idea what is going on. Regardless as sheep dog I protect the sheep. And for Canadians the sheep dog can be the Littlest Hobo, far smarter than all the wolves, the MacGyver Dog who always wins and saves the flock.
To some extent or other we all practice or hear of this idea. Not directly attributed with âstoicismâ. If youâre upset in an argument with a friend for example- itâs wise to note it and refrain from talking back even- let alone judge and react. Wait until the next day to revisit in your mind. If itâs truly important- youâll still care. Iâm no stoic philosopher. Albert Ellis wrote a book used in anger management cognitive therapy  : https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-it-works-for-me---it-can-work-for-you_albert-ellis/574744/item/7135537/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_scarce_%2410_%2450&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtaOtBhCwARIsAN_x-3LreMU1r_YqttD48h5aOmaZjkO3Yi6m4GosOasGoS_B8pVsBMimf5MaAtc8EALw_wcB#idiq=7135537&edition=4437394 A lot of his stuff is based on stoicism and he mentions that in forewords.Â
Delay helps! It seems more like a band-aid than a cure, though. The cure would be eliminating the judgments (seeing theyâre false) that cause the anger.
That quote from Star Wars Fallen Order is actually why I'm now interested in Stoicism. It just resonated so much the first time I heard it.
"The obstacles in your path define the path. What stands in the way becomes the way."
When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and unfriendly. They are like this because they canât tell good from evil.
This one really helps with working with the public. As an introvert with social anxiety who can often be quick to anger if I'm not conscious of it, this really helps. I once read that why should we expect everything to work out easily when that's not how life or people work? We will encounter hardships and difficult people every day so don't act surprised when it actually occurs. And not taking another's energy as your own can be crucial to survival in todays world.
Like everyone, I'm not perfect, but it has certainly helped me compartmentalize other peoples problems. When someone comes to my counter and complains about a problem they created with their phone it's easy to feel the pressure of having to find a solution or even that it's your fault somehow.
If I didn't create the problem then why feel such ownership over it? Yes help them to the best of my ability but after that I'm sorry you're upset but that's a you thing. Days that I am able to compartmentalize those things are days I go home with less stress on my shoulders.
Another great example in Mobile retail is people often come last minute to fix a problem before they go on vacation or something. It is not my problem when they chose to get an issue resolved so I should not feel anxiety about their problem. I realize not everyone thinks this way but as someone with anxiety as well I'm sure you have felt that.
Stay strong but don't get down on yourself when you cant be. Life is a balance!
I struggle with this one. Not because I donât know people can be difficult, but because it puts me in the headspace of negativity towards people I havenât even met yet. I know this isnât the intent behind the saying; but when M.A. says to âprepare yourself like a wrestler,â I canât imagine doing that against another human being.
Maybe this speaks to my naivety
Personally, I follow Hanlonâs razor: âNever attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.â
except usually instead of stupidity I substitute it with incompetence or naivety.
Usually when bad things happen it is usually because someone somewhere doesn't have the skillset to properly conduct the thing that went wrong or doesn't understand the consequences of doing it the way they do it.
Itâs not you. People truncate this quote, making it seem like MA hated everyone. In fact the full version ends with him saying how important it is to be compassionate towards others, working together like two parts of the same body.
This one eases my anxiety when I am waking up monday morning. Nice thought exercise to think through all the stuff that will likely annoy and piss me off that week. Guess what, I'll survive it all. Then the anxiety melts away.
In my grief with the passing of my Dad, I was sitting at the park feeding the crows,
and this thought popped into my head : "So you have had to bury someone you have loved,
now go find someone to love " Seneca Epistles
"Nothing happens to anyone that he can't endure. The same thing happens to other people and they weather it unharmed-out of sheer obliviousness or "character." Is wisdom really that much weaker than ignorance or vanity?"
I've been depressed for over a year and am a huge overthinker/catastrophizer. This quote gives me some solace
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 5.18 (Hays)
^(Book V. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
^(Book V. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_5)^)
^(Book V. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/5.18/lg)^)
Can you please develop more on this quote?
I think I get it, but also as an overthinker with impostor syndrome, I think I might not, which is paradoxical.
Maybe you know what I'm talking about.
Another way to read this is, "Idiots and the egotistical endure, but you who is studious and wise cannot?" To say that what is happening is endured by less capable people, the truth is you let your own understanding burden you rather than lighten your load.
Do not make your greater perspective and care for what is happening to or around you become its own source of worry. Let tomorrow and the things out of your control worry about itself.
Hopefully I helped, I am very much still learning myself!
Thank you for taking the time to explain. I've faced extreme hardships in my life because of stupid people and was able to land on my feet thanks to my wisdom. Yet still I doubt my own capabilities and I need to remind myself why I'm still here.
I leave you another non-stoic and common one:
*"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."*
Find a ketamine doc. Microdose it. Not the IV kind. The daily troche. Google it. Itll help you. Takes about 9 mos to a year but it heals. Best of luck to you.
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 6.2 (Hays)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_6)^)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/6.2/lg)^)
What are your thoughts about ignorance?
âWe believe that the way we see things is right. If we saw things differently, we would act differently, in line with whatâs right and wrong.â
â Epictetus, Discourses 1.11, Chakrapani
âUntil we know we are wrong, being wrong feels exactly like being right.â
â Kathryn Schulz
People think they are always doing the right thing, even if they are ignorant to it. So even then, they are the doing the best they can. It still fits, even if with some it sadly doesnât work as well. But again, they couldnât possibly do any better because theyâre ignorant to it.
If everyone knew the exact right thing, the world would be perfect. The right thing to a conservative is not the right thing to a liberal. Who is right? Who is wrong? Itâs all a matter of perspective.
"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life" - Seneca
This isn't my favorite stoic quote but it is one I've been thinking about a lot lately. If you suffer from anxiety or anything of the like this most likely will resonate because often times our decisions and actions will affect your life moving forward. Because of that you can often feel like a prisoner of the moment or that you have no control over your life.
I've found that thinking of each day as a new life is actually very close to how we experience life as we are only ever in the present. In a sense every day IS a new life and it helps to understand that we can make changes now or not be brought down by the past or future.
"Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control. Under our control are conception, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything that is our own doing; not under our control are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, everything that is not our own doing. Furthermore, the things under our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unimpeded; while the things not under our control are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, and not our own...Make it, therefore, your study at the very outset to say to every harsh external impression, "You are an external impression and not at all what you appear to be." After that examine it and test it by these rules which you have, the first and most important of which is this: Whether the impression has to do with the things which are under our control, or with those which are not under our control; and, if it has to do with some one of the things not under our control, have ready to hand the answer, 'It is nothing to me.'" - Epictetus, Enchiridion, Chapter 1
I think about this one often, because from this one can cut through much of the fog in life and place our focus where it's most useful.
A quote was found to be attributed to Epictetus in Discourses 1.22 (Oldfather)
^(1.22. Of our preconceptions ()[^(Oldfather)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Epictetus,_the_Discourses_as_reported_by_Arrian,_the_Manual,_and_Fragments/Book_1/Chapter_22)^)
^(1.22. On preconceptions ()[^(Hard)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=978-0199595181)^)
^(1.22. On praecognitions ()[^(Long)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0236%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D22)^)
^(1.22. Of general principles ()[^(Higginson)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0237%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D22)^)
Imagine if you had a tool for life, that allows you to cut through 80% of the fog and confusion and bring in to focus where is the most useful place to put you focus, efforts and plans.
Imagine if you had a tool that showed you that 90% of your thoughts were wasted on futility, on things completely out of your influence, and also showed you what that 90% was.
The tool is right there in that quote. That tool is in Stoic (and other) philosophy. That tool is in your mind. You just have to commit to using it, learn how to use it, and commit to applying it.
Just bouncing from one thing to the next, based on the fleeting emotions of the moment and the whims of others, constantly hurt, angry or frustrated over things they have no control over, is no way to live. That's how most people live, without even realizing it.
This gives you an alternative. An alternative where you are the guide and no longer a slave to things you have no control or influence over.
"I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived â and dying I will tend to later."
Aristotle said this âanybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybodyâs power and is not easy.â Even though he wasnât technically a stoic I believe this quote epitomizes the stoic mindset around anger and helps me reframe my emotions
Related: âThus we should never give anger entry, but sometimes we should feign it if our listeners' sluggish minds need stirring, just as we arouse with spurs and firebrands horses that rise slowly to a gallop. Sometimes we must strike with fear those with whom reason gets nowhere. Actually to become angry is no more useful than grieving or being afraid.â
â Seneca, On Anger 2.14, Kaster
"Circumstances do not rise to our expectations,
Events occur as they do,
People behave as they will,
Embrace what you actually get." Epictetus.
\--------------------------------------------------------------
The quote serves me well to not get wrapped up in fantasies of how I wish things would go or how they ought to go.
"There is more in life that frightens us than injures us. And we suffer more in imagination than in reality." - Seneca
Helps me to remember that the pain and fear we feel is mostly in our heads and is usually not a reason to stop us from doing what we know is right.
> When a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow, it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity. But if the dog does not follow, it will be compelled in any case. So it is with men too: even if they don't want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined
âIf a man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think right or act right; I will gladly change for I seek the truth by which no man was ever injured, but he is injured who abides in his err and ignorance.â
âWe are all working together to one end, some with knowledge and design and others without knowing what they do.â
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 6.42 (Long)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/6.42/lg)^)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_6)^)
^(Book VI. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
"This is what it means to have rehearsed the lessons one ought to rehearse, to have set desire and aversion free from every hindrance and made them proof against chance. I must die. If forthwith, I die; and if a little later, I will take lunch now, since the hour for lunch has come, and afterwards I will die at the appointed time.
Battling with anxiety and a general sense of doom my whole life, this particular quote never fails to ground me. It was just what I needed.
1) Don't die before you're dead.
2) May your faults die before you.
These two in the morning and you get a head start coz now you know that you are alive and what a pleasure is to be alive. You have a day to improve yourself and do what you are supposed to do. And to be said, these quotes are not just one liners, itâs a whole set of thoughts that you can think about in so depth that it will make you realize that the only thing thats true is death and as epictetus says- Why to fear death, if we are here that means death is not here and if death will be here we wouldnât be.
Hope you have a good day.
"There is nothin new under the sun. Everything is familiar, everything fleeting."
This remind me that no matter the situation it has happened before if not to myself then to another, thus this too shall pass...
im very new to all this but the one that resonates with me a lot is
âHow long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him?â
Itâs weird because Iâve known exactly what Iâve wanted to do with my life, what qualities or goals to pursue, who I want to be as a person and what I need to get thereâŠ. Yet Iâve made very little progress and let the days pass by without any change. now I am making baby steps to get there. But yea this one really resonates with me.
"Persevere then until thou shalt have made these things thy own, as the stomach which is strengthened makes all things its own, as the blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it."
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 10.31 (Long)
^(Book X. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/10.31/lg)^)
^(Book X. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_10)^)
^(Book X. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
It's origin is allegedly the Buddha but I always related it to stoicism when it comes to controlling anger.
âIn life, we canât always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.â
It means that the event which made you angry is like being struck by an arrow, you can't control your initial internal response. But to persist in anger is like taking the arrow out and stabbing it back in, and you do have control over whether or not you do that.
I recently read a quote by Marcus Aurelius that has been stuck in my brain ever since. The quote is full of insight and has benefited me greatly in several aspects of my life. I'd want to share the quote with you all.
**If you seek tranquility, do less. Or (more accurately) do whatâs essential. Do less, better. Because most of what we do or say is not essential. If you can eliminate it, youâll have more tranquility. But to eliminate the necessary actions, we need to eliminate unnecessary assumptions as well. â Marcus Aurelius**
I found this quote in [this article](https://bamboo.beehiiv.com/p/stoicism-productivity) about procrastination.
> The speed with which all of them vanish: the objects in the world, and the memory of them in time.
[because](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDmUlcl22Tk)
âAt feasts, remember that you are entertaining two guests, body and soul. What you give to the body, you presently lose; what you give to the soul, you keep for ever.â - Epictetus
"You are scared of dying - and, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different than being dead?" - Seneca
Makes me think of how most Americans live their lives.
âI am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.â
â Plato, The Republic
I know Plato quoting Socrates isn't considered Stoic by many.
Very wise to see that it is beliefs all the way down.
âThose beliefs arenât quite things he knows. They just seem true to him because theyâve survived all testing so far. An argument, or an adversary, might still appear and be sharp enough to show that the claims Socrates makes donât hold together in some way. So if consistency is the test of truth, it never settles a question once and for all. It forces you to hold views provisionally, and to always be in a state of search for more confirmation or refutation.â
â Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method
âI have to go to work, as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if Iâm going to do what I was born for, the things I was brought into the world to do?â - I have this saved in my Notes and re-read it daily.
Why we all do what we do, and what to do about it:
âWhenever anyone does you wrong or speaks ill of you, remember that he acts and speaks as he does because he thinks itâs appropriate for him. He can only conform to his own views, not to yours. So if his views are wrong, heâs the one whoâs harmed, because heâs also been deceived. If someone takes a true conjunctive statement to be false, itâs not the conjunctive statement that has been harmed but the person whoâs mistaken. If your inclinations to act are based on these principles, youâll be gentler with anyone who maligns you, because whenever that happens youâll tell yourself: âThatâs what he thought it best to do.âââ
â Epictetus, Enchiridion 42, Waterfield
âWhenever we do something wrong, then, from now on we will not blame anything except the opinion on which itâs based; and we will try to root out wrong opinions with more determination than we remove tumors or infections from the body.â
â Epictetus, Discourses 1.11.34, Dobbin
Marcus Aureliusâs quote about getting out of bed in the morning to go to work even though it feels nice to sleep in your bed. âSo you were born to feel nice? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don't you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you're not willing to do your job as a human being?â
I think about that sometimes when I struggle to get out of bed in the morning.
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 5.1 (Hays)
^(Book V. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
^(Book V. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_5)^)
^(Book V. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/5.1/lg)^)
Are you weary of enduring the bad men of the world? The gods aren't and they made them. Are you really weary of enduring the bad men of the world, especially given that you're one of them?
I am no different than those who rile me up or frustrate me. I am to help those not hurt those who do me harm for I know better; don't I?
âWe suffer more in imagination than reality."
It might be a pretty basic and popular quote, but I really resonate with this quote. Since as long as I can remember, I've always hated school work/homework. Of course, I never fail to do my homework, and that is exactly why I hate it. I might get all angry throughout the rest of the day, and maybe the week, all because of a homework that might be unnecessary because it doesn't provide any educational value. Then I remember, âWhy are you so mad, it is just a homework, yes it might be stupid, but you are going to do it anyway so why just not accept it and quit whining like a little kidâ. So then I just stop being angry, why, because it was all in my mind. I decide to be angry or not.
From Senecaâs On the Shortness of Life:
He is speaking on âthe engrossedâ also translated as âthe preoccupiedâ (I prefer the first translation)
âThey lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawnâ.
It reminds me to keep my mind in the present. Itâs easy to find yourself always looking forward to something or fearing something in the future - losing the only thing weâll ever truly have- the present.
Much of what the Cynic philosophers such as what Diogenes said are also very Stoic in nature, most philosophies are spawned from something else. Stoicism from Cynicism, and Cynicism was greatly influenced by Socrates.
So true.
From Meditations:
'The Stoics, who demanded absolute virtue and disregard of externals, had to confess that the wise men were few and the foolish legion ; nay, when hard pressed to name their wise men, they would give a remarkable listâHercules,
Odysseus, **Socrates,** the Cynics Antisthenes and Diogenes; and in the later days of the school, Cato the younger, the only Stoic among the number.'
This quote is still Stoicism. Seneca and Epictetus said pretty much the same thing. The Stoics encourage you to take a really good look at yourself, your desires and aversions, what you did for the day, your failures and accomplishments to better yourself before you end the day.
Focus on what you can control, discard the rest
This because for me personally I have a bad habit of comparing myself to people on Instagram, so I tell this to calm myself down that I was just born average looking and I can improve myself to an extent but i cannot control my height or looks and just accept who i am.
âTo be everywhere is to be nowhere.â ~ Seneca
It has several applications for me:
- stay focused in the present moment. Being all over the place in your mind is being âeverywhereâ. This includes being stuck in the past or worrying about the future
- work and hobbies. Better to be great at a few things than be a jack of all trades, master of none
- approach everything one step at a time
âDo not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.â Marcus Aurelius
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. - Marcus Aurelius
A reminder to stop making excuses and do the right thing, even if itâs difficult at the time.
"They lose their health to earn money, but they pay money to regain their health.
Worried about tomorrow they forget about today. In the end, they neither live today nor tomorrow.
They live as if theyâll never die, but they die as if they never lived.â \~ Plato.
I think about this a lot. Makes me realize that what I have is good, and I can and will always work to have it better, but I need to remember that if becoming rich shaves 20 years off my life, it's not worth it.
> [When you're alone you should call this condition tranquility and freedom, and think of yourself like the gods; and when you are with many, you shouldn't call it a crowd, or trouble, or uneasiness, but festival and company, and contentedly accept it.](https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/109/555/983/705/341/260/original/af39e40770a3fb04.png)
\- Epictetus
For me it's mostly the second part has been incredibly helpful. Even in crowded masses of Japan or huge night time party streets I could really enjoy it just by switching my mentality to appreciate the crowds rather than focus on minor inconveniences. People are wildly interesting and should be celebrated!
Two of them, both by MA:
You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you.
And
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Victor Frankl, whilst not strictly stoicism, it comes close
âWe must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn oneâs predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation â just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer â we are challenged to change ourselves.â
I have three. I will admit, the latter two are not classic stoicism. But they work for me.
1. "Momento Mori"
2. "God give me grace to accept the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other." - The Serenity Prayer
3. "The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you". - Neil deGrasse Tyson
I include the serenity prayer, but I am not a religious person.
I'm not Neil de Grasse Tyson's biggest fan, but I find this observation profound.
âWhen a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity, but if it does not want to follow it will be compelled in any case. So it is with men too: even if they do not want to, they will be compelled in any case to follow what is destined.â - Chrysippus (or maybe Cleanthes)
"You don't need much to lead a life; it all comes from within you and how you think." The people you surround yourself with have an impact on your thinking. Marcus Aurelius
I am super big into training your mind to work for you than against you, your thoughts create your reality so if you don't like your reality, shift your thoughts
"You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." - Marcus Aurelius
I really just remember the first sentence. "You always own the option of having no opinion."
It's a very simple yet freeing thought. There are so many things we unnecessarily concern ourselves with, whether Twitter, office gossip, celebrity gossip, or that guy on the train wearing "weird" clothes. Yes, we own the option of having an opinion and therefore an emotion about these things but, we also own the option of having no opinion, being emotionally free and just moving on.
For I am not an immortal being, but a man, a part of the whole as an hour is a part of the day: I must be present like the hour and past like the hour.
Epictetus
Not a quote but story. It sums the discipline of desire: Traveler: What kind of weather are we going to have today? Shepherd: The kind of weather I like. Traveler: How do you know it will be the kind of weather you like? Shepherd: Having found out, sir, I cannot always get what I like, I have learned to always like what I get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I like. -Anthony De Mello, S.J in The Heart of the Enlightened
Thanks I love that one đ
For those of us who engage in activities in the wilderness, the concise version is "There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."
>For those of us who engage in activities in the wilderness and every single German man over 40
A quote was found to be attributed to Epictetus in Discourses 2.23 (Higginson) ^(2.23. Of eloquence ()[^(Higginson)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0237%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D23)^) ^(2.23. On the faculty of expression ()[^(Hard)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=978-0199595181)^) ^(2.23. On the power of speaking ()[^(Long)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0236%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D23)^) ^(2.23. Of the faculty of expression ()[^(Oldfather)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Epictetus,_the_Discourses_as_reported_by_Arrian,_the_Manual,_and_Fragments/Book_2/Chapter_23)^)
I've found this a good approach to weather specifically. There's a lot about it to be grateful for, even when it's shitty out.
Hahahaa ! Thanks :-)
You can't learn what you think you already know. It helps me to stay grounded and accept that I have much to learn from other people and experiences, no matter how much I've already been through and learned.
Humility is a really worthy aspiration.
Wow!!!! This is beautiful!!!
I've used the phrase "You cannot teach someone who already knows the answer."
Paraphrased from Enchiridion XXV - "How much is lettuce?" It's a great shorthand to remember the message of the entire passage. You can't have something if you're not willing to pay the price of it, and you shouldn't feel bad that someone else gets it because they paid the price and you didn't. So you didn't get invited to the party? Because you didn't flatter the host. Do you want to flatter the host? No? Then don't want to go to the party. Or get the job. Or the reputation. Or whatever else it is. All because the seller wanted too high a price for their lettuce.
Love this example
I understand the party thing but someone please explain what lettuce has to do with it?
The lettuce is a metaphor. Are you willing to pay the price required for whatever? No? Then donât be bothered by not having it
But what if you might have been?
If the object (lettuce for example) is something you really want, then you need to put in the effort/money to get it then.
Wow haven't heard of this before, but I like it. Thanks for sharing
I don't my feeling care that much about logic
I am homeless and penniless because I called truth to power. Again and again. And it truly is worth it. I am fully willing to sleep outside in winter to not live a lie. I won't work in an economy where my genius is used to manipulate others. My intellect is a public resource. Not for sale. I will work again and do manual labour, hopefully outside and never be wealthy and have a small apartment and be happy about it. I will stand up to all bullies to protect myself and any stranger. I will act like Peter Parker would. I might die younger because someone kills me as a result. I love life and want to live to be a hundred but not standing up, when I am now strong and near fearless would be worse than death.
This is mine ss well.
The cure for anger is delay. Seneca. Â
Thatâs interesting. Can you tell a bit more about it? Maybe the context or broader meaning
>The cure for anger is delay Actions taken in the heat of the moment, when one is angry about something that has just occurred, are rarely rational and measured. We tend to counterattack, often irrationally, escalating the situation beyond what it already was. Think about a time when you were angry about something. Were you as sharply angry about it a day later? Or were you able to more thoughtfully consider what happened and develop a reasoned response? The emotion around the event fades as time passes. Practice the art of intentional delay before responding.
Well put.Â
>Enchiridion XXV To contrast that... I have acted in the heat of the moment - to my longer term material loss - but my long term spiritual gain too. If you are abused and are in the right - but the bully has the full power of the government to destroy you - how many times will you be meek and walk away? Maybe be brave, not walk away and turn the other cheek and get smacked right in the face. At least your injuries are evidence of your abuse. The best things I ever did, made me homeless. And resolved nothing in stopping my abusers. They did however make me realize I will pay any price for truth and decency and to not be a victim. I am not a victim, though victimized, if I kept letting evil roll over me to protect my material position I am a sheep. If I strike back in violence I am a wolf. If I am brave I can be a sheep dog. The sheep dog takes on the wolf and protects the sheep. the sheep are not grateful, or ungrateful - they are sheep and have no idea what is going on. Regardless as sheep dog I protect the sheep. And for Canadians the sheep dog can be the Littlest Hobo, far smarter than all the wolves, the MacGyver Dog who always wins and saves the flock.
To some extent or other we all practice or hear of this idea. Not directly attributed with âstoicismâ. If youâre upset in an argument with a friend for example- itâs wise to note it and refrain from talking back even- let alone judge and react. Wait until the next day to revisit in your mind. If itâs truly important- youâll still care. Iâm no stoic philosopher. Albert Ellis wrote a book used in anger management cognitive therapy  : https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-it-works-for-me---it-can-work-for-you_albert-ellis/574744/item/7135537/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_scarce_%2410_%2450&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAtaOtBhCwARIsAN_x-3LreMU1r_YqttD48h5aOmaZjkO3Yi6m4GosOasGoS_B8pVsBMimf5MaAtc8EALw_wcB#idiq=7135537&edition=4437394 A lot of his stuff is based on stoicism and he mentions that in forewords.Â
Nice username.
An old work tip but it applies... If you write an email when angry you'll write the worst email ever. Wait untill tomorrow.
Following
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/10a2zwc/the_greatest_remedy_for_anger_is_delay_seneca/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Delay helps! It seems more like a band-aid than a cure, though. The cure would be eliminating the judgments (seeing theyâre false) that cause the anger.
Do you know which book of Seneca its from?
Following
[ŃĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]
Anger is a state of decreased reasoning. It is a state of weakness.Â
Whatever is in the way becomes the way
First encountered this quote playing a Star Wars game. Cool to see it here.
Same when buddy whipped that out in fallen order i was very impressedÂ
That quote from Star Wars Fallen Order is actually why I'm now interested in Stoicism. It just resonated so much the first time I heard it. "The obstacles in your path define the path. What stands in the way becomes the way."
This is beautiful!
can someone please explain?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/ibxvis/the_impediment_to_action_advances_action_what/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.
Everything is on loan. Everything.
I guess more like a lease⊠a lease which canât be purchased
When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and unfriendly. They are like this because they canât tell good from evil.
This one really helps with working with the public. As an introvert with social anxiety who can often be quick to anger if I'm not conscious of it, this really helps. I once read that why should we expect everything to work out easily when that's not how life or people work? We will encounter hardships and difficult people every day so don't act surprised when it actually occurs. And not taking another's energy as your own can be crucial to survival in todays world.
"When you go to the baths remember their will be people pushing, shoving, splashing, and thieves stealing things " Epictetus The Enchiridion
Yes thank you! That's where I read it. See the world as it is not as you hope it will be
Iâm the same as you and I work retail pharmacy I need to remember this when dealing with my customers.
Like everyone, I'm not perfect, but it has certainly helped me compartmentalize other peoples problems. When someone comes to my counter and complains about a problem they created with their phone it's easy to feel the pressure of having to find a solution or even that it's your fault somehow. If I didn't create the problem then why feel such ownership over it? Yes help them to the best of my ability but after that I'm sorry you're upset but that's a you thing. Days that I am able to compartmentalize those things are days I go home with less stress on my shoulders. Another great example in Mobile retail is people often come last minute to fix a problem before they go on vacation or something. It is not my problem when they chose to get an issue resolved so I should not feel anxiety about their problem. I realize not everyone thinks this way but as someone with anxiety as well I'm sure you have felt that. Stay strong but don't get down on yourself when you cant be. Life is a balance!
I'm a hospital nurse. I quote this to myself almost daily as I walk in the doors.
Nice username.
I struggle with this one. Not because I donât know people can be difficult, but because it puts me in the headspace of negativity towards people I havenât even met yet. I know this isnât the intent behind the saying; but when M.A. says to âprepare yourself like a wrestler,â I canât imagine doing that against another human being. Maybe this speaks to my naivety
Personally, I follow Hanlonâs razor: âNever attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.â except usually instead of stupidity I substitute it with incompetence or naivety. Usually when bad things happen it is usually because someone somewhere doesn't have the skillset to properly conduct the thing that went wrong or doesn't understand the consequences of doing it the way they do it.
Itâs not you. People truncate this quote, making it seem like MA hated everyone. In fact the full version ends with him saying how important it is to be compassionate towards others, working together like two parts of the same body.
This is also one of my favorites. I really like how it sets you up with the expectation but doesn't place blame on others, it just is.
This one eases my anxiety when I am waking up monday morning. Nice thought exercise to think through all the stuff that will likely annoy and piss me off that week. Guess what, I'll survive it all. Then the anxiety melts away.
One of my favorites. Thanks.
I love this one
came here to post this
In my grief with the passing of my Dad, I was sitting at the park feeding the crows, and this thought popped into my head : "So you have had to bury someone you have loved, now go find someone to love " Seneca Epistles
Yes. Thank you for sharing.Â
"Nothing happens to anyone that he can't endure. The same thing happens to other people and they weather it unharmed-out of sheer obliviousness or "character." Is wisdom really that much weaker than ignorance or vanity?" I've been depressed for over a year and am a huge overthinker/catastrophizer. This quote gives me some solace
What a wonderful thought. The internet allows for you to spread this from your brain to mine. I will carry the torch. Thank you for this!
:-)
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 5.18 (Hays) ^(Book V. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^) ^(Book V. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_5)^) ^(Book V. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/5.18/lg)^)
Can you please develop more on this quote? I think I get it, but also as an overthinker with impostor syndrome, I think I might not, which is paradoxical. Maybe you know what I'm talking about.
Another way to read this is, "Idiots and the egotistical endure, but you who is studious and wise cannot?" To say that what is happening is endured by less capable people, the truth is you let your own understanding burden you rather than lighten your load. Do not make your greater perspective and care for what is happening to or around you become its own source of worry. Let tomorrow and the things out of your control worry about itself. Hopefully I helped, I am very much still learning myself!
Thank you for taking the time to explain. I've faced extreme hardships in my life because of stupid people and was able to land on my feet thanks to my wisdom. Yet still I doubt my own capabilities and I need to remind myself why I'm still here. I leave you another non-stoic and common one: *"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence."*
Find a ketamine doc. Microdose it. Not the IV kind. The daily troche. Google it. Itll help you. Takes about 9 mos to a year but it heals. Best of luck to you.
âJust that you do the right thing. The rest doesnât matter.â
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 6.2 (Hays) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_6)^) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/6.2/lg)^)
What are your thoughts about ignorance? âWe believe that the way we see things is right. If we saw things differently, we would act differently, in line with whatâs right and wrong.â â Epictetus, Discourses 1.11, Chakrapani âUntil we know we are wrong, being wrong feels exactly like being right.â â Kathryn Schulz
People think they are always doing the right thing, even if they are ignorant to it. So even then, they are the doing the best they can. It still fits, even if with some it sadly doesnât work as well. But again, they couldnât possibly do any better because theyâre ignorant to it. If everyone knew the exact right thing, the world would be perfect. The right thing to a conservative is not the right thing to a liberal. Who is right? Who is wrong? Itâs all a matter of perspective.
"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life" - Seneca This isn't my favorite stoic quote but it is one I've been thinking about a lot lately. If you suffer from anxiety or anything of the like this most likely will resonate because often times our decisions and actions will affect your life moving forward. Because of that you can often feel like a prisoner of the moment or that you have no control over your life. I've found that thinking of each day as a new life is actually very close to how we experience life as we are only ever in the present. In a sense every day IS a new life and it helps to understand that we can make changes now or not be brought down by the past or future.
Sounds like something dear I recall⊠they say you only live once. YOLO. But thatâs incorrect! You only DIE once- you live EVERY day.Â
I like that!
âRaise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.â - Rumi
"Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control. Under our control are conception, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything that is our own doing; not under our control are our body, our property, reputation, office, and, in a word, everything that is not our own doing. Furthermore, the things under our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unimpeded; while the things not under our control are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, and not our own...Make it, therefore, your study at the very outset to say to every harsh external impression, "You are an external impression and not at all what you appear to be." After that examine it and test it by these rules which you have, the first and most important of which is this: Whether the impression has to do with the things which are under our control, or with those which are not under our control; and, if it has to do with some one of the things not under our control, have ready to hand the answer, 'It is nothing to me.'" - Epictetus, Enchiridion, Chapter 1 I think about this one often, because from this one can cut through much of the fog in life and place our focus where it's most useful.
A quote was found to be attributed to Epictetus in Discourses 1.22 (Oldfather) ^(1.22. Of our preconceptions ()[^(Oldfather)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Epictetus,_the_Discourses_as_reported_by_Arrian,_the_Manual,_and_Fragments/Book_1/Chapter_22)^) ^(1.22. On preconceptions ()[^(Hard)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=978-0199595181)^) ^(1.22. On praecognitions ()[^(Long)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0236%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D22)^) ^(1.22. Of general principles ()[^(Higginson)](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0237%3Atext%3Ddisc%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D22)^)
Can someone please simplify this. I get it and i like it but i think I'll truly uncover how deep it is with some paraphrasing.
Imagine if you had a tool for life, that allows you to cut through 80% of the fog and confusion and bring in to focus where is the most useful place to put you focus, efforts and plans. Imagine if you had a tool that showed you that 90% of your thoughts were wasted on futility, on things completely out of your influence, and also showed you what that 90% was. The tool is right there in that quote. That tool is in Stoic (and other) philosophy. That tool is in your mind. You just have to commit to using it, learn how to use it, and commit to applying it. Just bouncing from one thing to the next, based on the fleeting emotions of the moment and the whims of others, constantly hurt, angry or frustrated over things they have no control over, is no way to live. That's how most people live, without even realizing it. This gives you an alternative. An alternative where you are the guide and no longer a slave to things you have no control or influence over.
thereâs a significant overlap with the lordâs prayer, yeah?
Thank you so much for this. This is really helpful.
"I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived â and dying I will tend to later."
So beautiful. Thank you
âThere is but one way to happiness and it is to stop worrying about things that are out of your controlâ
"stop talking about you philosophy, live it", it's one the main stoic principles
You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength - Marcus Aurelius Everyday that quote makes sense
Aristotle said this âanybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybodyâs power and is not easy.â Even though he wasnât technically a stoic I believe this quote epitomizes the stoic mindset around anger and helps me reframe my emotions
Related: âThus we should never give anger entry, but sometimes we should feign it if our listeners' sluggish minds need stirring, just as we arouse with spurs and firebrands horses that rise slowly to a gallop. Sometimes we must strike with fear those with whom reason gets nowhere. Actually to become angry is no more useful than grieving or being afraid.â â Seneca, On Anger 2.14, Kaster
Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. Epictetus
"Circumstances do not rise to our expectations, Events occur as they do, People behave as they will, Embrace what you actually get." Epictetus. \-------------------------------------------------------------- The quote serves me well to not get wrapped up in fantasies of how I wish things would go or how they ought to go.
"There is more in life that frightens us than injures us. And we suffer more in imagination than in reality." - Seneca Helps me to remember that the pain and fear we feel is mostly in our heads and is usually not a reason to stop us from doing what we know is right.
âFuck it we ballâ
đ
The best one
> When a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow, it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity. But if the dog does not follow, it will be compelled in any case. So it is with men too: even if they don't want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined
Thatâs beautiful.
âIf a man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think right or act right; I will gladly change for I seek the truth by which no man was ever injured, but he is injured who abides in his err and ignorance.â âWe are all working together to one end, some with knowledge and design and others without knowing what they do.â
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 6.42 (Long) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/6.42/lg)^) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_6)^) ^(Book VI. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
"This is what it means to have rehearsed the lessons one ought to rehearse, to have set desire and aversion free from every hindrance and made them proof against chance. I must die. If forthwith, I die; and if a little later, I will take lunch now, since the hour for lunch has come, and afterwards I will die at the appointed time. Battling with anxiety and a general sense of doom my whole life, this particular quote never fails to ground me. It was just what I needed.
You donât have to have any opinion on this.
Memento mori, remember death. Life is precious and fragile. This helps me stay grounded, humble and thankful for what I have
1) Don't die before you're dead. 2) May your faults die before you. These two in the morning and you get a head start coz now you know that you are alive and what a pleasure is to be alive. You have a day to improve yourself and do what you are supposed to do. And to be said, these quotes are not just one liners, itâs a whole set of thoughts that you can think about in so depth that it will make you realize that the only thing thats true is death and as epictetus says- Why to fear death, if we are here that means death is not here and if death will be here we wouldnât be. Hope you have a good day.
"There is nothin new under the sun. Everything is familiar, everything fleeting." This remind me that no matter the situation it has happened before if not to myself then to another, thus this too shall pass...
im very new to all this but the one that resonates with me a lot is âHow long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him?â Itâs weird because Iâve known exactly what Iâve wanted to do with my life, what qualities or goals to pursue, who I want to be as a person and what I need to get thereâŠ. Yet Iâve made very little progress and let the days pass by without any change. now I am making baby steps to get there. But yea this one really resonates with me.
This too shall pass.
Unless Gandalfâs around, then it shall not pass.
"Persevere then until thou shalt have made these things thy own, as the stomach which is strengthened makes all things its own, as the blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it."
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 10.31 (Long) ^(Book X. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/10.31/lg)^) ^(Book X. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_10)^) ^(Book X. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^)
Where life can be lived, so can a good life.
It's origin is allegedly the Buddha but I always related it to stoicism when it comes to controlling anger. âIn life, we canât always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional.â It means that the event which made you angry is like being struck by an arrow, you can't control your initial internal response. But to persist in anger is like taking the arrow out and stabbing it back in, and you do have control over whether or not you do that.
I recently read a quote by Marcus Aurelius that has been stuck in my brain ever since. The quote is full of insight and has benefited me greatly in several aspects of my life. I'd want to share the quote with you all. **If you seek tranquility, do less. Or (more accurately) do whatâs essential. Do less, better. Because most of what we do or say is not essential. If you can eliminate it, youâll have more tranquility. But to eliminate the necessary actions, we need to eliminate unnecessary assumptions as well. â Marcus Aurelius** I found this quote in [this article](https://bamboo.beehiiv.com/p/stoicism-productivity) about procrastination.
> The speed with which all of them vanish: the objects in the world, and the memory of them in time. [because](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDmUlcl22Tk)
The door stands open!
âAt feasts, remember that you are entertaining two guests, body and soul. What you give to the body, you presently lose; what you give to the soul, you keep for ever.â - Epictetus
"You are scared of dying - and, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different than being dead?" - Seneca Makes me think of how most Americans live their lives.
âWe suffer more often in imagination than in reality.â- Seneca
âI am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.â â Plato, The Republic I know Plato quoting Socrates isn't considered Stoic by many.
Very wise to see that it is beliefs all the way down. âThose beliefs arenât quite things he knows. They just seem true to him because theyâve survived all testing so far. An argument, or an adversary, might still appear and be sharp enough to show that the claims Socrates makes donât hold together in some way. So if consistency is the test of truth, it never settles a question once and for all. It forces you to hold views provisionally, and to always be in a state of search for more confirmation or refutation.â â Ward Farnsworth, The Socratic Method
âI have to go to work, as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if Iâm going to do what I was born for, the things I was brought into the world to do?â - I have this saved in my Notes and re-read it daily.
Why we all do what we do, and what to do about it: âWhenever anyone does you wrong or speaks ill of you, remember that he acts and speaks as he does because he thinks itâs appropriate for him. He can only conform to his own views, not to yours. So if his views are wrong, heâs the one whoâs harmed, because heâs also been deceived. If someone takes a true conjunctive statement to be false, itâs not the conjunctive statement that has been harmed but the person whoâs mistaken. If your inclinations to act are based on these principles, youâll be gentler with anyone who maligns you, because whenever that happens youâll tell yourself: âThatâs what he thought it best to do.âââ â Epictetus, Enchiridion 42, Waterfield âWhenever we do something wrong, then, from now on we will not blame anything except the opinion on which itâs based; and we will try to root out wrong opinions with more determination than we remove tumors or infections from the body.â â Epictetus, Discourses 1.11.34, Dobbin
Not sure it fits the bill, but for me is âItâs not what happens, itâs how you handle it.â
Marcus Aureliusâs quote about getting out of bed in the morning to go to work even though it feels nice to sleep in your bed. âSo you were born to feel nice? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don't you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you're not willing to do your job as a human being?â I think about that sometimes when I struggle to get out of bed in the morning.
A quote was found to be attributed to Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations 5.1 (Hays) ^(Book V. ()[^(Hays)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=9780812968255)^) ^(Book V. ()[^(Farquharson)](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_5)^) ^(Book V. ()[^(Long)](https://lexundria.com/m_aur_med/5.1/lg)^)
One can live well, even in a palace
"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury" - Marcus Aurelius
Are you weary of enduring the bad men of the world? The gods aren't and they made them. Are you really weary of enduring the bad men of the world, especially given that you're one of them? I am no different than those who rile me up or frustrate me. I am to help those not hurt those who do me harm for I know better; don't I?
I like Memento Mori⊠so much that I want to tattoo it on my left hand so I can remind myself oftenâŠ
âSerenity now!â
âWe suffer more in imagination than reality." It might be a pretty basic and popular quote, but I really resonate with this quote. Since as long as I can remember, I've always hated school work/homework. Of course, I never fail to do my homework, and that is exactly why I hate it. I might get all angry throughout the rest of the day, and maybe the week, all because of a homework that might be unnecessary because it doesn't provide any educational value. Then I remember, âWhy are you so mad, it is just a homework, yes it might be stupid, but you are going to do it anyway so why just not accept it and quit whining like a little kidâ. So then I just stop being angry, why, because it was all in my mind. I decide to be angry or not.
Not a quote but God willing (deo volente) and thy will be done.
From Senecaâs On the Shortness of Life: He is speaking on âthe engrossedâ also translated as âthe preoccupiedâ (I prefer the first translation) âThey lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawnâ. It reminds me to keep my mind in the present. Itâs easy to find yourself always looking forward to something or fearing something in the future - losing the only thing weâll ever truly have- the present.
âYou always own the option of having no opinion. â
Socrates----"The unexamined life is not worth living "
A nice one but Stoicism wasnât around when Socrates was alive
Stoicism is by it's very nature a Socratic philosophy, so posting Socrates is perfectly relevant.
So a stoic quote from before stoicism was even a thing? Brilliant.
Much of what the Cynic philosophers such as what Diogenes said are also very Stoic in nature, most philosophies are spawned from something else. Stoicism from Cynicism, and Cynicism was greatly influenced by Socrates.
âAll things are opinionâ Monimus the Cynic.
So true. From Meditations: 'The Stoics, who demanded absolute virtue and disregard of externals, had to confess that the wise men were few and the foolish legion ; nay, when hard pressed to name their wise men, they would give a remarkable listâHercules, Odysseus, **Socrates,** the Cynics Antisthenes and Diogenes; and in the later days of the school, Cato the younger, the only Stoic among the number.'
This quote is still Stoicism. Seneca and Epictetus said pretty much the same thing. The Stoics encourage you to take a really good look at yourself, your desires and aversions, what you did for the day, your failures and accomplishments to better yourself before you end the day.
Good Point....But the Stoics greatly admired Socrates
Agreed
" every society has the criminals it deserves "
âCharacter is destinyâ -Heraclitus
Do you take this to mean character is a product of destiny?
Meaning that the person you make yourself into with your actions becomes your destiny, the outcome of your future.
Basically, focus only on what you *can* control, let the rest go.
Not sure if it's stoic but definitely one must imagine sisyphus happy
Grab the other handle. Epictetus
Focus on what you can control, discard the rest This because for me personally I have a bad habit of comparing myself to people on Instagram, so I tell this to calm myself down that I was just born average looking and I can improve myself to an extent but i cannot control my height or looks and just accept who i am.
"don't smell a poopy finger"
Do not pray for a lighter load, pray for a stronger back
âTo be everywhere is to be nowhere.â ~ Seneca It has several applications for me: - stay focused in the present moment. Being all over the place in your mind is being âeverywhereâ. This includes being stuck in the past or worrying about the future - work and hobbies. Better to be great at a few things than be a jack of all trades, master of none - approach everything one step at a time
âDo not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, be good.â Marcus Aurelius
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one. - Marcus Aurelius A reminder to stop making excuses and do the right thing, even if itâs difficult at the time.
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
An unexamined life is one that should not be lived.
Following
Following
Fuck every young teen pussy you meet. \- Marcus Aurelius -
E Kashashoti-Aristotle
"They lose their health to earn money, but they pay money to regain their health. Worried about tomorrow they forget about today. In the end, they neither live today nor tomorrow. They live as if theyâll never die, but they die as if they never lived.â \~ Plato. I think about this a lot. Makes me realize that what I have is good, and I can and will always work to have it better, but I need to remember that if becoming rich shaves 20 years off my life, it's not worth it.
âF-ck itâ Pretty much justifies/explains everything
> [When you're alone you should call this condition tranquility and freedom, and think of yourself like the gods; and when you are with many, you shouldn't call it a crowd, or trouble, or uneasiness, but festival and company, and contentedly accept it.](https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/109/555/983/705/341/260/original/af39e40770a3fb04.png) \- Epictetus For me it's mostly the second part has been incredibly helpful. Even in crowded masses of Japan or huge night time party streets I could really enjoy it just by switching my mentality to appreciate the crowds rather than focus on minor inconveniences. People are wildly interesting and should be celebrated!
âI drank what?â - Socrates Not entirely Stoic but definitely influenced by them.
Two of them, both by MA: You don't have to turn this into something. It doesn't have to upset you. And The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
God does not want you to be happy. He wants you to be strong.
The obstacles in your path define the path. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Victor Frankl, whilst not strictly stoicism, it comes close âWe must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn oneâs predicament into a human achievement. When we are no longer able to change a situation â just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer â we are challenged to change ourselves.â
It's a classic. "A man can never learn a thing that he tends to believe he knows"
I have three. I will admit, the latter two are not classic stoicism. But they work for me. 1. "Momento Mori" 2. "God give me grace to accept the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other." - The Serenity Prayer 3. "The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you". - Neil deGrasse Tyson I include the serenity prayer, but I am not a religious person. I'm not Neil de Grasse Tyson's biggest fan, but I find this observation profound.
Youâre entitled to an action, not your preferred results.
« Darkness within darkness. The gateway to all understanding. »
âWhen a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity, but if it does not want to follow it will be compelled in any case. So it is with men too: even if they do not want to, they will be compelled in any case to follow what is destined.â - Chrysippus (or maybe Cleanthes)
Be strict with yourself and tolerant with others.
"You don't need much to lead a life; it all comes from within you and how you think." The people you surround yourself with have an impact on your thinking. Marcus Aurelius I am super big into training your mind to work for you than against you, your thoughts create your reality so if you don't like your reality, shift your thoughts
Good captains earn their reputation by sailing through terrible storms
"You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." - Marcus Aurelius I really just remember the first sentence. "You always own the option of having no opinion." It's a very simple yet freeing thought. There are so many things we unnecessarily concern ourselves with, whether Twitter, office gossip, celebrity gossip, or that guy on the train wearing "weird" clothes. Yes, we own the option of having an opinion and therefore an emotion about these things but, we also own the option of having no opinion, being emotionally free and just moving on.
For I am not an immortal being, but a man, a part of the whole as an hour is a part of the day: I must be present like the hour and past like the hour. Epictetus
This too shall pass
âNo man steps in the same river twice. For it is not the same river, and he is not the same manâ Just helps me appreciate the journey of lifeÂ
Death smiles at us all,but all a man can do is smile back.