31 quotes · verified sources

Stoic quotes

Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus, quoted exactly, with the book and section so you can check.

Half of the "Stoic quotes" on the internet were never written by a Stoic. Others are real but come from a modern translation and get passed around without a source. Every line below was checked word for word against a public-domain translation, and each one carries the book and section number so you can look it up yourself.

The old translations use "thou" and "thee". We kept them as written rather than modernising, because a quote you can verify is worth more than a smoother one you cannot. If you like the Stoic idea of discipline, read how to be disciplined or how to build mental toughness.

Marcus Aurelius quotes

Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD. The Meditations were private notes to himself, never meant to be published. Quoted from Meditations, translated by George Long (1862).

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present,—I am rising to the work of a human being.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.1
Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.49
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
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.16
If thou art pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs thee, but thy own judgment about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgment now.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.47
Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.4
Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.17
If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.17
The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like [the wrong-doer].Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.6
Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.59
How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks, but only to what he does himself, that it may be just and pure.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.18
Never value anything as profitable to thyself which shall compel thee to break thy promise, to lose thy self-respect…Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 3.7
Confine thyself to the present.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.29
Occupy thyself with few things, says the philosopher, if thou wouldst be tranquil.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.24
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
Let it make no difference to thee whether thou art cold or warm, if thou art doing thy duty; and whether thou art drowsy or satisfied with sleep…Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.2
Thou wilt give thyself relief if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.5
That which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20
The universe is transformation: life is opinion.Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.3

Seneca quotes

Statesman, playwright and adviser to Nero. His letters to his friend Lucilius are the most readable Stoic writing there is. Quoted from Moral Letters to Lucilius, translated by Richard M. Gummere (1917).

Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of to-day’s task, and you will not need to depend so much upon to-morrow’s. While we are postponing, life speeds by.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 1
Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 1
There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 13
Philosophy is no trick to catch the public; it is not devised for show. It is a matter, not of words, but of facts.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 16
You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 28
Pain is slight if opinion has added nothing to it.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 78
Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty; the difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius Letter 104

Epictetus quotes

Born a slave, he became one of the most influential teachers of the ancient world. The Enchiridion is a short handbook of his teaching. Quoted from The Enchiridion, translated by Thomas W. Higginson (1865).

There are things which are within our power, and there are things which are beyond our power.Epictetus, The Enchiridion Chapter 1
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.Epictetus, The Enchiridion Chapter 5
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, The Enchiridion Chapter 8
Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will unless itself pleases.Epictetus, The Enchiridion Chapter 9
Whatever rules you have adopted, abide by them as laws, and as if you would be impious to transgress them.Epictetus, The Enchiridion Chapter 50

Popular "Stoic" quotes that are not what they seem

"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." This is real Marcus Aurelius (Meditations 5.20), but the wording belongs to Gregory Hays's 2002 translation, which is still under copyright. In George Long's public-domain translation the same passage ends: "that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road."

"We suffer more in imagination than in reality." A fair summary of Seneca, Letter 13. Gummere's translation reads: "we suffer more often in imagination than in reality."

"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." Also Meditations 10.16, again in a modern translation. Long has it as: "No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such."

If a quote you love is not on this list, it may still be genuine, but check it against a translation before you tattoo it anywhere.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What is the most famous Stoic quote?

Probably Epictetus: "Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things" (Enchiridion 5). It is the seed of the Stoic idea that you control your response, not events.

What did the Stoics say about discipline?

They saw it as acting by your principles regardless of comfort. Marcus Aurelius told himself to get out of bed by remembering he was "rising to the work of a human being" (Meditations 5.1), and Epictetus told students to keep their chosen rules "as laws" (Enchiridion 50).

Which translation of the Meditations should I read?

Gregory Hays (2002) is the most readable modern version. George Long (1862) and Meric Casaubon (1634) are free and in the public domain, which is why we quote Long here.