Diogenes Laertius

The Stoics say that the wise man is free from passion, because he is not subject to grief, fear, desire, or pleasure. He is not without sensation, but he is without passion.

The soul of the wise man is not only free from passion, but also firm and stable. He is not cast down by adversity, nor lifted up by prosperity.

The Stoics divide philosophy into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics. These are the parts of the philosopher's education, like the walls, the fruit, and the soul of a garden.

Logic is necessary for the philosopher, because without it he cannot know what is true or false. It is the wall that guards the garden of philosophy.

Physics teaches us the nature of the universe, and ethics teaches us how to live. Both are necessary for the good life.

The good is virtue and what participates in virtue. Evil is vice and what participates in vice. Between good and evil there is nothing; all else is indifferent.

The primary things according to nature are health, strength, soundness of the senses, and the like. But these are not good; they are preferred indifferents.

The end of life is to live consistently with nature, which means to live according to virtue and right reason. This is the perfect good.

Zeno defined nature as the artistically working fire, proceeding by method toward the production of things. This is the rational principle that governs the universe.

The Stoics say that the wise man is self-sufficient. He is not in need of others, but he will choose to live in society, because man is a social animal.

The wise man is not only good, but also useful. He will participate in politics, if nothing prevents him, for the good of the state.

The Stoics say that all sins are equal. For just as a person who is one inch under water is no less drowned than one who is a hundred fathoms under, so he who is a little wrong is no less wrong than he who is greatly wrong.

The wise man is not only free, but also a king. For he is master of himself, and all who are not wise are slaves.

The wise man will be without passion. He will not grieve, because he knows that nothing is truly evil but vice. He will not fear, because he knows that nothing is to be feared but vice.

The wise man is happy, even when he is tortured. For his happiness is not in the body, but in the soul, and the body cannot touch the soul.

The life according to nature is the life according to virtue. The two are one and the same, for nature is rational, and virtue is the perfection of reason.

The Stoics say that the wise man will marry and beget children, for these are things according to nature. But he will not be troubled if he has no children, for they are not in his power.

The wise man is not only temperate, but also just, brave, and wise. The virtues are inseparable; he who has one has all.

The good man is not one who never makes a mistake, but one who quickly corrects his mistakes. For the wise man is not infallible, but he is perfectible.

The end of the Stoic philosophy is to live a life of happiness, that is, a life in accordance with virtue. This is the only true good.

The Stoics say that the wise man is passionless, because he is not liable to fall.

They hold that virtue is a harmonious disposition, choice-worthy for its own sake, not from hope or fear.

Zeno said, we have two ears and one mouth, therefore we should listen more than we speak.

No evil is honorable; but death is honorable; therefore death is not evil.

When someone asked Zeno what a friend was, he replied, 'Another I.'

Zeno used to say that nothing was more unbecoming than pride, especially in the young.

The Stoics divide philosophy into three parts: logic, ethics, and physics; and they compare philosophy to a fertile field.

Chrysippus said that if any one wishes to know the will of the gods, he ought to inquire what the wise man wills.

Living according to virtue is equivalent to living according to nature.

Cleanthes said, 'Lead me, Zeus, and thou, Destiny, to that goal which long ago was assigned me.'

Zeno defined the end as 'life in agreement with nature'; and Cleanthes added, 'with universal nature.'

The wise man is free, though he be a slave; and the fool is a slave, though he be a king.

They say the wise man never wonders at anything that seems extraordinary.

The wise man does everything well, just as we say a flute-player plays well.

The Stoics say that only the beautiful is good.