“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Stoic Quotes
Embrace the ancient philosophy of Stoicism with powerful quotes from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca. Learn to focus on what you control and find peace in any circumstance.
118 quotes · Page 1 of 5
“Man is disturbed not by things, but by the opinions he has of things.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together.”
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“Loss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”
“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change.”
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
“Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourself.”
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
About stoic quotes
Stoicism began in Athens around 300 BC and reached its most readable form in Rome, in the writings of three very different men: Seneca, a wealthy statesman; Epictetus, a former slave who became a teacher; and Marcus Aurelius, an emperor who wrote private notes to himself that we now call the Meditations. Their shared idea is simple to state and hard to practise: some things are within our control, most are not, and peace comes from putting our effort only where it belongs.
The quotes on this page come from those primary sources wherever possible: the Meditations, Epictetus’s Discourses and Enchiridion, and Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius. Popular modern paraphrases that cannot be traced to the original texts are labelled as disputed, so you can tell genuine Stoic writing from the internet’s version of it.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the most famous Stoic quote?
- Epictetus’s line “Man is disturbed not by things, but by the opinions he has of things” (Enchiridion, 5) is probably the best known. It sums up the Stoic view that our judgments, not events themselves, cause most of our distress.
- Who were the main Stoic philosophers?
- The most widely read are Seneca (c. 4 BC–AD 65), Epictetus (c. AD 50–135) and Marcus Aurelius (AD 121–180). Earlier Greek Stoics such as Zeno and Chrysippus founded the school, but little of their writing survives.
- How can I use Stoic quotes in daily life?
- Many people read one passage in the morning and come back to it in the evening. Marcus Aurelius did something similar: the Meditations are reminders he wrote to himself, such as “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
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