Inspiring Stoic Quotes To Uplift Your Mind & Spirit

Stoicism's wisdom is timeless, empowering us to navigate life's complexities with deep and thoughtful insights. Practicing this ancient philosophy can significantly change our minds and behavior, leading to character strength most people can only dream of.

It's like transforming ourselves into a serene, peaceful lake rather than remaining an uncontrollable, stormy sea. When a stone is thrown into this lake, it barely causes a ripple. If at all, it's merely a minor disturbance, hardly noticeable. We're calm, retaining our serenity, much like the still water returning to its peaceful state after the tiny ripples fade. 

But for those who live in the stormy sea of uncontrolled emotions and reactions, this stone morphs into a meteor, wreaking havoc and throwing everything out of balance. 

The Stoic quotes below will (fate permitting) inspire you if you're open to new perspectives. Consider them an invitation to reflect, grow, and shift your mindset, gaining new insights into your life.

30 Quotes by Marcus Aurelius

With his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius has left a precious resource for modern Stoics and philosophy enthusiasts. His personal writings are full of wisdom and serve as a timeless guide for living a good life. As the Roman emperor, he had more duties, obstacles, and challenges to face than we probably can imagine. Yet, he found time to reflect and practice his philosophy.

Get roused by a man of great character and determination with these quotes.

1. "Begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them because of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen that the nature of the good is beautiful, and that the bad is ugly, and that the nature of he who does wrong is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him. For we are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature and it is acting against one another to become frustrated and to turn away." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.1
2. "Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom been seen to be unhappy but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds must necessarily be unhappy." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.8
3. "The universe is transformation; life is opinion." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.3
4. "Take away your opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint: 'I have been harmed.' Take away the complaint that 'I have been harmed' and the harm is taken away." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.7
5. "Do 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." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.17
6. "Now a man should take away not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for thus superfluous acts will not follow after." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.24
7. "Does anyone do wrong? It is to himself that he does the wrong. Has anything happened to you? Well, out of the universe from the beginning everything which happens has been apportioned and spun out to you. In a word, your life is short. You must turn the present to profit by the aid of reason and justice. Be sober in your relaxation." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.26
8. "In the morning when you rise reluctantly, let this thought be present: I am rising to do the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world? Or have I been made for this, to lie in the bedclothes and keep myself warm?" Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.1
9. "Do not be disgusted, discouraged, or dissatisfied, if you do not succeed in doing everything according to right principles. Rather when you have failed, return back again, and be content if the greater part of what you do is consistent with man's nature, and love this to which you return." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.9
10. "Such as are your habitual thoughts, so also will be the character of your mind. For the soul is dyed by its thoughts." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.16
11. "For the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid. And so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.20
12. "The best way of avenging yourself is not to become like [the wrong-doer]." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.6
13. "If a thing is difficult to be accomplished by yourself, do not think that it is impossible for man. But if anything is possible for man and conformable to his nature, think that this can be attained by you too." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.19
14. "If any man is able to convince me and show me that I do not think 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 error and ignorance." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.21
15. "Frequently consider the connection of all things in the universe and their relation to one another. For in a manner all things are implicated with one another, and all in this way are friendly to one another. For one thing comes in order after another, and this is by virtue of the active movement and mutual conspiration and the unity of the substance." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.38
16. "When you wish to delight yourself, think of the virtues of those who live with you. For instance, the activity of one, and the modesty of another, and the liberality of a third, and some other good quality of a fourth. For nothing delights so much as the examples of the virtues, when they are exhibited in the morals of those who live with us and present themselves in abundance, as far as is possible. Hence we must keep them before us." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.48
17. "It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul. For things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.52
18. "Accustom yourself to attend carefully to what is said by another, and as much as it is possible, be in the speaker's mind." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.53
19. "That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.54
20. "Be not ashamed to be helped for it is your business to do your duty like a soldier in the assault on a town." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.7
21. "Is any man afraid of change? Why, what can take place without change? What then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature? And can you take a bath unless the wood undergoes a change? Can you be nourished, unless the food undergoes a change? And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change? Do you not see then that for yourself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature?" Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.18
22. "Let the wrong which is done by a man stay there where the wrong was done." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.29
23. "Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if you will ever dig." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.59
24. "Every soul, the philosopher says, is involuntarily deprived of truth. Consequently in the same way it is deprived of justice and temperance and benevolence and everything of the kind. It is most necessary to bear this constantly in mind, for thus you will be more gentle towards all." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.63
25. "It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.71
26. "Men exist for the sake of one another. Teach them then, or bear with them." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.59
27. "No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 10.16
28. "And let this truth be present to you in the excitement of anger: that to be moved by passion is not manly but that mildness and gentleness, as they are more agreeable to human nature, are more manly. And he who possesses these qualities possesses strength, nerves, and courage, and not the man who is subject to fits of passion and discontent. For in the same degree to the extent that a man's mind is nearer to freedom from all passion it is also nearer to strength. And as the sense of pain is a characteristic of weakness, so also is anger." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.18
29. "I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.4
30. "First, do nothing inconsiderately, nor without a purpose. Second, make your acts refer to nothing else than to a social end." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.20

30 Quotes by Seneca

Seneca, or Lucius Annaeus Seneca, is another famous Stoic philosopher, dramatist, and statesman. His 124 moral letters are still profoundly meaningful in Stoicism. 

Usually, these letters (also known as "Letters from a Stoic") start with an observation about everyday life, moving further into a broader principle abstracted from that observation. It's like a personal guidebook for deep philosophical thoughts. The letters touch upon various themes of Stoic philosophy, like indifference toward death, the courage of a wise person, and virtue as the ultimate good.

Here are some of his most influential quotes.

1. "Each day acquire something that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes as well; and after you have run over many thoughts, select one to be thoroughly digested that day." Seneca, Moral letters, 2.4
2. "No good thing renders its possessor happy, unless his mind is reconciled to the possibility of loss; nothing, however, is lost with less discomfort than that which, when lost, cannot be missed. Therefore, encourage and toughen your spirit against the mishaps that afflict even the most powerful." Seneca, Moral letters, 4.6
3. "Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach." Seneca, Moral letters, 7.8
4. "When a man has said: "I have lived!", every morning he arises he receives a bonus." Seneca, Moral letters, 12.9
5. "Let us, then, look carefully into the matter. It is likely that some troubles will befall us; but it is not a present fact. How often has the unexpected happened! How often has the expected never come to pass! And even though it is ordained to be, what does it avail to run out to meet your suffering? You will suffer soon enough, when it arrives; so look forward meanwhile to better things." Seneca, Moral letters, 13.10
6. "Examine yourself; scrutinize and observe yourself in divers ways; but mark, before all else, whether it is in philosophy or merely in life itself that you have made progress." Seneca, Moral letters, 16.2
7. "Philosophy is no trick to catch the public; it is not devised for show. It is a matter, not of words, but of facts. It is not pursued in order that the day may yield some amusement before it is spent, or that our leisure may be relieved of a tedium that irks us. It moulds and constructs the soul; it orders our life, guides our conduct, shows us what we should do and what we should leave undone; it sits at the helm and directs our course as we waver amid uncertainties." Seneca, Moral letters, 16.3
8. "For what else are you busied with except improving yourself every day, laying aside some error, and coming to understand that the faults which you attribute to circumstances are in yourself? We are indeed apt to ascribe certain faults to the place or to the time; but those faults will follow us, no matter how we change our place." Seneca, Moral letters, 50.1
9. "Learning virtue means unlearning vice." Seneca, Moral letters, 50.7
10. "Even such a man will be stung by an event like this, but it will be only a sting. We, however, may be forgiven for bursting into tears, if only our tears have not flowed to excess, and if we have checked them by our own efforts. Let not the eyes be dry when we have lost a friend, nor let them overflow. We may weep, but we must not wail." Seneca, Moral letters, 63.1
11. "Let us greedily enjoy our friends, because we do not know how long this privilege will be ours." Seneca, Moral letters, 63.8
12. "Let us be brave in the face of hazards. Let us not fear wrongs, or wounds, or bonds, or poverty. And what is death? It is either the end, or a process of change. I have no fear of ceasing to exist; it is the same as not having begun. Nor do I shrink from changing into another state, because I shall, under no conditions, be as cramped as I am now." Seneca, Moral letters, 65.24
13. "The archer must know what he is seeking to hit; then he must aim and control the weapon by his skill." Seneca, Moral letters, 71.3
14. "Therefore, nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all problems, and we should consider, not what is wont to happen, but what can happen." Seneca, Moral letters, 91.4
15. "What is the happy life? It is peace of mind, and lasting tranquillity. This will be yours if you possess greatness of soul; it will be yours if you possess the steadfastness that resolutely clings to a good judgment just reached." Seneca, Moral letters, 92.3
16. "He suffers more than is necessary, who suffers before it is necessary." Seneca, Moral letters, 98.8
17. "We are endowed by Nature with an interest in our own well-being; but this very interest, when overindulged, becomes a vice." Seneca, Moral letters, 116.3
18. "It is better, therefore, to conquer it than to cheat it; for a grief which has been deceived and driven away either by pleasure or by business rises again, and its period of rest does but give it strength for a more terrible attack; but a grief which has been conquered by reason is appeased forever." Seneca, On Consolation to Helvia, 27
19. "You should know that good men ought to act in like manner, so as not to fear troubles and difficulties, nor to lament their hard fate, to take in good part whatever befalls them, and force it to become a blessing to them. It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it." Seneca, Of Providence, 2
20. "I may say the same of a good man, if troublesome circumstances have never given him a single opportunity of displaying the strength of his mind. I think you unhappy because you never have been unhappy: you have passed through your life without meeting an antagonist: no one will know your powers, not even you yourself. For a man cannot know himself without a trial; no one ever learnt what he could do without putting himself to the test; for which reason many have of their own free will exposed themselves to misfortunes which no longer came in their way, and have sought for an opportunity of making their virtue, which otherwise would have been lost in darkness, shine before the world." Seneca, Of Providence, 4
21. "While all excesses are hurtful, excess of comfort is the most hurtful of all; it affects the brain; it leads men's minds into vain imaginings; it spreads a thick cloud over the boundaries of truth and falsehood." Seneca, Of Providence, 4
22. "No tree which the wind does not often blow against is firm and strong; for it is stiffened by the very act of being shaken, and plants its roots more securely: those which grow in a sheltered valley are brittle: and so it is to the advantage of good men, and causes them to be undismayed, that they should live much amidst alarms, and learn to bear with patience what is not evil save to him who endures it ill." Seneca, Of Providence, 4
23. "Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men." Seneca, Of Providence, 5
24. "Anger, as we have said, is eager to punish; and that such a desire should exist in man's peaceful breast is least of all according to his nature; for human life is founded on benefits and harmony and is bound together into an alliance for the common help of all, not by terror, but by love towards one another." Seneca, Of Anger, 1.5
25. "The best plan is to reject straightway the first incentives to anger, to resist its very beginnings, and to take care not to be betrayed into it: for if once it begins to carry us away, it is hard to get back again into a healthy condition, because reason goes for nothing when once passion has been admitted to the mind, and has by our own free will been given a certain authority, it will for the future do as much as it chooses, not only as much as you will allow it." Seneca, Of Anger, 1.8
26. "What, too, can be more unworthy of the wise man, than that his passions should depend upon the wickedness of others?" Seneca, Of Anger, 2.8
27. "You will rather think that we should not be angry with people's faults; for what shall we say of one who is angry with those who stumble in the dark, or with deaf people who cannot hear his orders, or with children, because they forget their duty and interest themselves in the games and silly jokes of their companions?" Seneca, Of Anger, 2.10
28. "Savagery must be met by kindness..." Seneca, Of Anger, 3.27
29. "In my talk I express the most admirable sentiments, yet I am still weltering amid countless ills. You must not force me to act up to my rules: at the present time I am forming myself, moulding my character, and striving to rise myself to the height of a great example. If I should ever succeed in carrying out all that I have set myself to accomplish, you may then demand that my words and deeds should correspond." Seneca, Of A Happy Life, 24
30. "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough, and it has been given in sufficiently generous measure to allow the accomplishment of the very greatest things if the whole of it is well invested. But when it is squandered in luxury and carelessness, when it is devoted to no good end, forced at last by the ultimate necessity we perceive that it has passed away before we were aware that it was passing" Seneca, On The Shortness of Life, 1

30 Quotes by Epictetus

Epictetus differs from Seneca and Marcus Aurelius in the sense that he wasn't a powerful or wealthy man. He was born into slavery. 

Epictetus taught Stoicism as a way of life, something practical instead of another theoretical discipline.

None of the other Stoic philosophers had such a strong emphasis on the dichotomy of control. He argues that we should radically accept all events beyond our power. It's likely that his time as an enslaved person, where he was utterly at the mercy of his master, contributed immensely to this attitude.

Feel illuminated by the quotes of a great philosopher and former slave who turned free and became a teacher of Stoicism. A man who had to deal with severe struggles and uncertainties yet managed to live a good life.

1. "Pray, what figure do you think Hercules would have made, if there had not been a lion, and a hydra, and a stag, and unjust and brutal men, whom he expelled and cleared away? And what would he have done, if none of these had existed? Is it not plain, that he must have wrapt himself up and slept? In the first place, then, he would never have become a Hercules, by slumbering away his whole life in such delicacy and ease; or if he had, what good would it have done? What would have been the use of his arm and his strength, — of his patience and greatness of mind, — if such circumstances and subjects of action had not roused and exercised him?" Epictetus, Discourses, 1.6
2. "If what philosophers say of the kinship between God and men be true, what has any one to do, but, like Socrates, when he is asked what countryman he is, never to say that he is a citizen of Athens, or of Corinth, but of the universe? For why, if you limit yourself to Athens, do you not farther limit yourself to that mere corner of Athens where your body was brought forth?" Epictetus, Discourses, 1.9
3. "No great thing is created suddenly; any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me, that you desire a fig, I answer you, that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. Since then, the fruit of a fig-tree is not brought to perfection suddenly, or in one hour; do you think to possess instantaneously and easily the fruit of the human mind? I warn you, expect it not." Epictetus, Discourses, 1.15
4. "In our own power are the will, and all voluntary actions; out of our power, the body and its parts, property, parents, brothers, children, country; and, in short, all our fellow-beings." Epictetus, Discourses, 1.22
5. "Difficulties are things that show what men are. For the future, in case of any difficulty, remember, that God, like a gymnastic trainer, has pitted you against a rough antagonist. For what end? That you may be an Olympic conqueror; and  this cannot be without toil. No man, in my opinion, has a more profitable difficulty on his hands than you have; provided you will but use it, as an athletic champion uses his antagonist." Epictetus, Discourses, 1.24
6. "When any one, then, assents to what is false, be assured that he doth not wilfully assent to it, as false; for, as Plato affirms, the soul is unwillingly deprived of truth;* but what is false appears to him to be true." Epictetus, Discourses, 1.28
7. "Things not dependent on my own will are nothing to me." Epictetus, Discourses, 1.30
8. "Who is your master? He who controls those things which you seek or shun." Epictetus, Discourses, 2.2
9. "If you would not be of an angry temper, then, do not feed the habit. Give it nothing to help its increase. Be quiet at first, and reckon the days in which you have not been angry. I used to be angry every day; now every other day; then every third and fourth day; and if you miss it so long as thirty days, offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God." Epictetus, Discourses, 2.18
10. "Of things, some are good, some evil, and some indifferent. Now the good are the virtues, and whatever partakes of them; and the evil, vices, and what partakes of vice; the indifferent lie between these, as riches, health, life, death, pleasure, pain." Epictetus, Discourses, 2.19
11. "For freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire." Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1
12. "When you have lost anything external, have always at hand the consideration of what you have got instead of it; and if that be of more value, do not by any means call yourself a loser; whether it be a horse for an ass; an ox for a sheep; a good action for a piece of money; a due composure of mind for a dull jest; or modesty for indecent talk. By continually remembering this, you will preserve your character such as it ought to be." Epictetus, Discourses, 4.3
13. "Seek at once, therefore, to be able to say to every unpleasing semblance, 'You are but a semblance and by no means the real thing.' And then examine it by those rules which you have; and first and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are within our own power, or those which are not; and if it concerns anything beyond our power, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you." Epictetus, Enchiridion 1
14. "Remember that desire demands the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion demands the avoidance of that to which you are averse; that he who fails of the object of his desires, is disappointed; and he who incurs the object of his aversion, is wretched. If, then, you shun only those undesirable things which you can control, you will never incur anything which you shun. But if you shun sickness, or death, or poverty, you will run the risk of wretchedness." Epictetus, Enchiridion 2
15. "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things." Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
16. "It is the action of an uninstructed person to reproach others for his own misfortunes; of one entering upon instruction, to reproach himself; and of one perfectly instructed, to reproach neither others nor himself." Epictetus, Enchiridion 5
17. "Demand not that events should happen as you wish; but wish them to happen as they do happen, and you will go on well." Epictetus, Enchiridion 8
18. "Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless itself pleases. Lameness is an impediment to the leg, but not to the will; and say this to yourself with regard to everything that happens. For you will find it to be an impediment to something else, but not truly to yourself." Epictetus, Enchiridion 9
19. "Never say of anything, 'I have lost it'; but, 'I have restored it'." Epictetus, Enchiridion 11
20. "Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows who affronts; but the view we take of these things as insulting. When, therefore, any one provokes you, be assured that it is your own opinion which provokes you. Try, therefore, in the first place, not to be bewildered by appearances. For if you once gain time and respite, you will more easily command yourself." Epictetus, Enchiridion 20
21. "Begin by prescribing to yourself some character and demeanor, such as you may preserve both alone and in company." Epictetus, Enchiridion 33
22. "Be mostly silent; or speak merely what is needful, and in few words." Epictetus, Enchiridion 33
23. "When any person does ill by you, or speaks ill of you, remember that he acts or speaks from an impression that it is right for him to do so. Now, it is not possible that he should follow what appears right to you, but only what appears so to himself. Therefore, if he judges from false appearances, he is the person hurt; since he too is the person deceived. For if any one takes a true proposition to be false, the proposition is not hurt, but only the man is deceived. Setting out, then, from these principles, you will meekly bear with a person who reviles you; for you will say upon every occasion, 'It seemed so to him.'" Epictetus, Enchiridion 42
24. "Does any one bathe hastily? Do not say, that he does it ill, but hastily. Does any one drink much wine? Do not say that he does ill, but that he drinks a great deal. For unless you perfectly understand his motives, how should you know if he acts ill? Thus you will not risk yielding to any appearances but such as you fully comprehend." Epictetus, Enchiridion 45
25. "It belongs to a wise man to resist pleasure; and to a fool to be enslaved by it." Epictetus, Fragments from Stobaeus, 106
26. "Choose rather to punish your appetites than to be punished by them." Epictetus, Fragments from Stobaeus, 108
27. "No one is free who commands not himself." Epictetus, Fragments from Stobaeus, 109
28. "Time delivers fools from grief; and reason, wise men." Epictetus, Fragments from Stobaeus, 123
29. "Fortify yourself with moderation; for this is an impregnable fortress." Epictetus, Fragments, 2
30. "Nature has given man one tongue, but two ears, that we may hear twice as much as we speak." Epictetus, Fragments, 6

10 Quotes by Musonius Rufus

Gaius Musonius Rufus was Epictetus' teacher during the reign of Nero. He focused exclusively on ethical issues in his lectures and had a substantial practical proneness. Musonius believed that all virtues were inherent in humans and that anyone could become virtuous through actively pursuing good. 

For him, one of these virtues was philanthropy. 

According to Musonius, those who strive to be good, control themselves, and fulfill their duty as human beings are not only doing the right thing but will even become happy.

Have fun immersing yourself in his quotes and enjoy the new perspectives they may offer.

1.  "Furthermore, it is as right for a woman to be self-controlled as it is for a man. The laws punish equally a man who seduces and the woman who is seduced. Overeating, drinking too much, and other vices like these, which are acts of self-indulgence and which greatly shame those who are subject to them, show plainly that self-control is most essential for every human being, both female and male: through self-control alone and in no other way do we escape self-indulgence." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 4
2. "As it is, no one expects anyone other than the doctor to be error-free in the care of the sick, anyone other than the musician to be error-free in the use of the lyre, and anyone other than the helmsman to be error-free in the use of steering-oars. But in connection with life, people no longer expect only the philosopher, who alone seems to make a study of virtue, to be error-free; rather, they expect all people likewise to be, even those who have not made any study of virtue. Clearly, there is no other reason for this attitude than the innate human proclivity for virtue. Indeed, that we all say about ourselves that we have virtue and are good also clearly demonstrates that we share in virtue by nature." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 1.2
3. "A virtuous person displays love for his fellow human beings, as well as goodness, justice, kindness, and concern for his neighbor." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 14
4. "If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 51.2
5. "We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 6.4
6. "Since I say that this is the case, the person who is practicing to become a philosopher must seek to overcome himself so that he won't welcome pleasure and avoid pain, so that he won't love living and fear death, and so that, in the case of money, he won't honor receiving over giving." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 6.7
7. "In marriage there must be, above all, companionship and care of husband and wife for each other, both in sickness and in health and on every occasion." Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 13.A2
8. "In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason." Musonius Rufus, Sayings, 36
9. "Don't expect to tell others what they should do when they know that you do what you shouldn't. [Stobaeus 4.7.15.] " Musonius Rufus, Sayings, 32
10. "'Suppose there are two men, one of whom has sailed many times and has already piloted many boats, and the other of whom has sailed few times and has never been a pilot. Suppose the one who has never been a pilot can speak very fluently about the theory of navigation, and suppose the other speaks poorly and incoherently. Which would you hire as pilot if you were sailing?' And he said, 'The one who has been a pilot many times.'" Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 51.2

Final Thoughts

What's your favorite quote, and what did you learn from it? How do you incorporate it into daily life?

While reading quotes is fantastic for getting food for thought, applying what you've learned makes all the difference when searching for a flourishing life. Stoic Buddy helps you practice Stoicism more readily, ensuring your progress toward a happier life.