The Stoic Magazine Library

Stoic quotes for every day of the month

Beyond Stoicism by Pigliucci, Lopez, and Kunz is an excellent exploration of ancient Greek (and Roman) philosophies. This well-written, wide-ranging, and engaging book can benefit practitioners of any philosophy, not just Stoicism. Highly recommended.

Virtues present me with endless opportunities to keep practicing and to work on my life in ways that are measured and focused.

Even if we fail to apply Stoic doctrine and associated virtues, there’s always another situation lurking for us to do so. We brush ourselves off and try again. That’s what being a real Stoic is all about.

This idea is at the heart of Stoicism: true happiness comes from living a virtuous life. Unlike fleeting pleasures or material success, virtue provides lasting fulfillment, regardless of external circumstances.

You are your choices. When you look back on the tapestry of your life – would you prefer it to have been coloured by the muted tones of comfort and convenience, or the strong hues of a consistent character?

To be at peace, truly at peace, we need to do a better job of living the virtuous life.

One might even speculate that if Epictetus were the only Stoic author whose works had survived from antiquity, we might get the idea that virtue was only one of a number of important concepts for the Stoics, rather than being an absolutely central one.

The Stoic path to understanding is not jumping to conclusions.