A reference
Stoic Quotes
A curated archive of 1017 passages from the Stoic canon — drawn from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Seneca's Letters and essays, Epictetus's Enchiridion and Discourses, Musonius Rufus's Lectures, and the surviving fragments of the early Greek Stoics. Every quote is sourced to its work, section, and translator. For an interpretation in plain English, type a question on the Ask page.
Anchor passages
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
“Some things are up to us, and some are not up to us. Up to us are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion... not up to us are body, property, reputation, public office.”
“It is not possible to live well today unless one thinks of it as one's last.”
“The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”
“Lead me, O Zeus, and thou O Destiny, wherever your decree has assigned me. I follow readily; and if I would not, wicked and wretched, I must follow still.”
By Philosopher
- Zeno of Citium14 passages →
- Cleanthes11 passages →
- Chrysippus15 passages →
- Panaetius of Rhodes10 passages →
- Posidonius10 passages →
- Cato the Younger10 passages →
- Marcus Aurelius181 passages →
- Epictetus256 passages →
- Musonius Rufus31 passages →
- Cicero69 passages →
- Diogenes Laertius35 passages →
- Hierocles13 passages →