A Stoic Quote for the Week

I have had an interest in Stoic philosophy for over 30 years now. I think I first read Marcus Aurelius back in the 1980’s and I can certainly say that stoicisms basic principles have helped me through life. In the last year or so I have returned to the primary texts and my interest has been rekindled. I think an awful lot of people are natural stoics without knowing it. So I thought it might be fun to have a stoic quote of the week to see if you folk relate to the sentiments at all. But to start this series off it’s probably a good idea to try and give a brief synopsis of stoicism.

Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but was famously practiced by the likes of Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. The philosophy asserts that virtue (such as wisdom) is happiness and judgment should be based on behavior, rather than words. That we don’t control and cannot rely on external events, only ourselves and our responses.

Stoicism has just a few central teachings. It sets out to remind us of how unpredictable the world can be. How brief our moment of life is. How to be steadfast, and strong, and in control of yourself. And finally, that the source of our dissatisfaction lies in our impulsive dependency on our reflexive senses rather than logic.

Stoicism doesn’t concern itself with complicated theories about the world, but with helping us overcome destructive emotions and act on what can be acted upon. It’s built for action, not endless debate.

It had three principal leaders. Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.

Me being the way I am, I naturally dive deep in to topics that interest me. But you really don’t necessarily have to do that with stoicism. So I will present you with a quote each week and if this strikes a chord with you then maybe you will investigate a little further. Please feel free to ask for reading recommendations if you are interested. We begin with a quote that presents the central principle of the philosophy.

Stoic Quote of the Week

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own….” Epictetus (c55-135AD)

So this is basically saying…….only worry about the things you can control. If you are stuck in traffic, for instance, what’s the point of stressing

Picture of Epictutus’ bust