Courage

Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break, but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it.

Do not disturb thyself by thinking of the whole of thy life. Let not thy thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which thou mayest expect to befall thee.

Either the gods have no power or they have power. If, then, they have no power, why dost thou pray to them? But if they have power, why dost thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest?

What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body... But this readiness must come from a man's own judgement, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but considerately and with dignity.

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.

Set aside now and then a number of days during which you will be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: 'Is this the condition that I feared?'

Rehearse this thought every day, that you may be able to depart from life contentedly; for many men clutch and cling to life, even as those who are carried down a rushing stream clutch and cling to briars and sharp rocks.

The man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

Vivere, Lucili, militare est. To live, Lucilius, is to fight.

A great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent; if his ship be dismantled, he can yet put in trim what remains of her hull and hold his course.

No one confines his unhappiness to the present.

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.

It is not the hardships that come to us, but the way we bear them, that makes us miserable or strong.

The day which we fear is out of all proportion greater than the fear itself. We suffer more in imagination than in reality.

No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

The person who has learned to die has unlearned how to be a slave. He is above, or at least beyond, all fortune.

Limiting one's desires actually helps to cure one of fear. Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.

He who has learnt to die has unlearnt to be a slave. He is superior, or at least equal, to all things.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity; yet there is a still greater sight — a great man cheerfully at grips with adversity.

You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.

Fire tests gold, and misery tests brave men.

Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.

The life of the fool is empty of gratitude and full of anxiety; it is thrown away in the expectation of what is to come and the regret of what is past.

No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself. The highest proof of virtue is to bear the loss of all things without sorrow.

You have lost a son; but you have not lost your virtue. If you bear this bravely, you will have gained more than you have lost.

If you would improve, lay aside such reasonings as these: 'If I neglect my affairs, I shall not have a maintenance; if I do not punish my servant, he will be good for nothing.' For it is better to die with hunger, exempt from grief and fear, than to live in affluence with perturbation.

When a raven happens to croak unluckily, don't allow the appearance hurry you away with it, but immediately make the distinction to yourself, and say, 'None of these things are portended to me... to me nothing can be portended, either dangerous or unfortunate, since whatever befalls me is up to me.'

You can be unconquerable, if you enter into no combat in which it is not in your own control to conquer.

Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible, be daily before your eyes, but chiefly death; and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.

When you have recourse to divination, remember that you know not what the event will be, and you come to learn it of the diviner; but of what nature it is you knew before coming, at least if you are a philosopher.

I must die. Must I then die lamenting? I must be put in chains. Must I then also lament? I must go into exile. Does any man then hinder me from going with smiles and cheerfulness?

Do you not know that a fine cock does not exist in isolation, but must have some pain, must fight, must be wounded? So it is with a man of virtue.

Every animal is so constituted that it flees from and turns from the things that appear harmful and the things that cause the harm.

No one who is either in fear or in sorrow or in perturbation is free; but whoever is delivered from sorrows and fears and perturbations, he by the very same means is delivered also from slavery.

It is not things that disturb us, but our judgments about things. Death, for example, is nothing terrible, or else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our judgment about death.

It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death. He who has overcome this fear is free.

It is difficulties that show what men are. Therefore, when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. For what purpose? That you may become an Olympic conqueror.

If you would have peace, give no man the power over your passions. For as soon as you desire or fear anything, you become a slave to him who can give or take it away.

The good man is invincible, for he does not enter into contests where he is not superior. If he is not strong enough to conquer an opponent, he will not enter into the contest.

When you have made the right the only good, and the wrong the only evil, what room is there for fear or anxiety? Nothing can harm you but your own wrongdoing.

It is not the things that disturb us, but our opinions about them. Death, for instance, is not terrible, or else it would have appeared so to Socrates. The terror is in our judgment.

Pain, thou art an evil; but no matter what thou art, I will never confess that thou art an evil.

Cato did not survive freedom, nor did freedom survive Cato.

The wise man is not free from the first movements of the soul, such as sudden fear or sudden desire, but he does not consent to them. For consent is in our power.

Pain is not an evil, but a thing to be endured. The wise man bears it with courage, knowing that it does not touch his soul.

Pain is not the greatest evil. The greatest evil is to be conquered by pain. The wise man endures pain with fortitude.

It is not by running away from pain that we become brave, but by enduring it. The habit of endurance makes the soul strong.

The passions are all in our own power. We cannot prevent the first movements of the soul, but we can prevent them from becoming passions by withholding our consent.

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.

There is nothing that fear or grief may not extort from a soul which is not fortified by philosophy.