The Stoic Magazine Library

Stoic quotes for every day of the month

Every sacrifice is automatically virtuous simply because it asks something of us.

We train because situations will test us before we feel fully prepared for them. In that sense, difficult workplaces can become unexpected training grounds.

The Stoic life is not built upon dramatic displays of sacrifice. It is built upon countless unseen sacrifices repeated consistently over time.

The Stoics believed if the sacrifice was virtuous, you should not expect praise for doing so.

You don’t have to sacrifice your mind, your body, or your soul to serve.

Sacrifice is not one of the canonical Stoic virtues, but sacrificing time, safety, or even your own life for a higher moral purpose flows naturally from practicing the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage and temperance.

Fulfilling our multiple roles and responsibilities, meeting the call of our duties, following through on commitments, restraining ourselves or rousing up our spirit, these all do as well. Would the word “sacrifice” be out of place in all of these cases? It strikes me that it might be one of the most apt terms we could use for them.