Being stoic is being calm and almost without any emotion. When you’re stoic, you don’t show what you’re feeling and you also accept whatever is happening.
The noun stoic is a person who’s not very emotional. The adjective stoic describes any person, action, or thing that seems emotionless and almost blank. May these Stoic Quotes On Success inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
- Inspirational Quotes On The Future That Will Give You Perspective
- Best Quotes About Staying Calm When Angry
Stoic Quotes
To be evenminded is the greatest virtue. Heraclitus
Just keep in mind: the more we value things outside our control, the less control we have. Epictetus
The tranquility that comes when you stop caring what they say. Or think, or do. Only what you do. Marcus Aurelius
The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately. Seneca
It does not matter what you bear, but how you bear it. Seneca
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. Seneca
To be calm is the highest achievement of the self. Zen proverb
He has the most who is content with the least. Diogenes
Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power. James Allen
Man conquers the world by conquering himself. Zeno of Citium
Be stoic: Just do the right thing. Just keep going. Maxime Lagacé
Success is based off of your willingness to work your ass off no matter what obstacles are in your way. David Goggins
When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval. Epictetus
The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself. Robert Greene
To be stoic is not to be emotionless, but to remain unaffected by your emotions. James Pierce
The Best Stoic Quotes
Learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference. Marcus Aurelius
To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden. Seneca
The willing are led by fate, the reluctant dragged. Cleanthes
Too many people believe that everything must be pleasurable in life. Robert Greene
A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control. Naval Ravikant
If you are easily provoked you are easily controlled. @TheStoicEmperor
Be an island of calm in the sea of craziness. @TheAncientSage
Relentlessly prune bullshit, don’t wait to do things that matter, and savor the time you have. Paul Graham
Be a master of the mind, not mastered by the mind. Zen proverb
The more you seek the uncomfortable, the more you will become comfortable. Conor McGregor
Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers. Albert Einstein
Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. Viktor Frankl
The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable. Seneca
To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle. Albert Einstein
If you make happiness your goal, you’ll be disappointed. If you make presence your goal, you’ll be satisfied. Maxime Lagacé
If it’s endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. Marcus Aurelius
That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it… but love it. Friedrich Nietzsche
The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are. Marcus Aurelius
The wise man is neither raised up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity; for always he has striven to rely predominantly on himself, and to derive all joy from himself. Seneca
The great law of nature is that it never stops. There is no end. Ryan Holiday
Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. Epictetus
I love to go and see all the things I am happy without. Socrates (On going to the market)
The robbed that smiles steals something from the thief. Othello
What Is Stoicism?
Stoicism is about the domestication of emotions, not their elimination. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Stoicism teaches how to keep a calm and rational mind no matter what happens to you and it helps you understand and focus on what you can control and not worry about and accept what you can’t control. Jonas Salzgeber
Stoicism, understood properly, is a cure for a disease. The disease in question is the anxiety, grief, fear, and various other negative emotions that plague humans and prevent them from experiencing a joyful existence. William B. Irvine
The Most Famous Stoic Quotes (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, etc.)
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. Steve Jobs
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be, be one. Marcus Aurelius
The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred. Dalai Lama
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. William James
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. Epictetus
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. Epictetus
What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain. Maya Angelou
You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. Marcus Aurelius
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Viktor Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning)
Many men will meet me who are drunkards, lustful, ungrateful, greedy, and excited by the frenzy of ambition. Seneca
Set aside a certain number of days during which you shall 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?” Seneca
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. Seneca
Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats. Voltaire
What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. Tim Ferriss
The things you own end up owning you. Joshua Fields Millburn (The Minimalists)
Is there such a thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am. Charlie Munger
It is not daily increase but daily decrease, hack away the unessential. The closer to the source, the less wastage there is. Bruce Lee
The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less. Zeno of Citium
I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid. Cato The Younger
If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished? Rumi
Nothing endures but change. Heraclitus
Why should we pay so much attention to what the majority thinks? Socrates
Short Stoic Quotes
One-liners, short stoic quotes, sayings, thoughts and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, backgrounds.
Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. Marcus Aurelius
Order your soul. Reduce your wants. Augustine of Hippo
Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods. Socrates
No human thing is of serious importance. Plato
Ensure you endure. Maxime Lagacé
The obstacle is the way. Ryan Holiday
Great times are great softeners. Ryan Holiday
Move toward resistance and pain. Robert Greene
The limit is not the sky. The limit is the mind. Wim Hof
Problems only exist in the human mind. Anthony de Mello
Discomfort is the currency of success. Brooke Castillo
Show people, don’t tell people. David Goggins
Discomfort is a wise teacher. Caroline Myss
Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Marcus Aurelius
To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. Eckhart Tolle
If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. Unknown
What are the secret of success? -one word answer: “rational”. Charlie Munger
Be present above all else. Naval Ravikant
Don’t aim to be perfect. Aim to be antifragile. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Peace must be found in the imperfect present. @TheStoicEmperor
You will be attacked for doing the right thing. Do it anyway. @TheStoicEmperor
Think long term. Execute short term. Experience now. @TheStoicEmperor
You amplify everything you react to. @TheStoicEmperor
While we wait for life, life passes. Seneca
There is no genius without a touch of madness. Seneca
Inspirational And Uplifting Stoic Quotes
Live your life like you’re the hero in your movie. Joe Rogan
Do what you will. Even if you tear yourself apart, most people will continue doing the same things. Marcus Aurelius
It can ruin your life only if it ruins your character. Otherwise it cannot harm you — inside or out. Marcus Aurelius
Keep your intention pure. Emotions will try to distract you. So keep going. That’s the cure. Maxime Lagacé
Every hour focus your mind attentively…on the performance of the task in hand, with dignity, human sympathy, benevolence and freedom, and leave aside all other thoughts. You will achieve this, if you perform each action as if it were your last. Marcus Aurelius
There are two of the most immediately useful thoughts you will dip into. First that things cannot touch the mind: they are external and inert; anxieties can only come from your internal judgement. Second, that all these things you see will change almost as you look at them, and then will be no more. Constantly bring to mind all that you yourself have already seen changed. The universe is change: life is judgement. Marcus Aurelius
Make the mind tougher by exposing it to adversity. Robert Greene
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. M. Scott Peck
Never let people who choose the path of least resistance steer you away from your chosen path of most resistance. David Goggins
Life is a storm that will test you unceasingly. Don’t wait for calm waters that may not arrive. Derive purpose from resilience. Learn to sail the raging sea. @TheStoicEmperor
Short term thinking is everywhere. Noisy feuds over little prizes. The long term thinker will be king. Win the decade, not the day. @TheStoicEmperor
How do you move forward? One step at a time. How do you lose weight? One kilo at a time. How do you write a book? One page at a time. How do you build a relationship? One day at a time. In a world obsessed with speed, never forget things of real worth and value take time. Thibaut
Give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Epictetus
Now is the time to get serious about living your ideals. How long can you afford to put off who you really want to be? Your nobler self cannot wait any longer. Put your principles into practice – now. Stop the excuses and the procrastination. This is your life! […] Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do – now. Epictetus
We should not, like sheep, follow the herd of creatures in front of us, making our way where others go, not where we ought to go. Seneca
Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach. Seneca
As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must seize what flees. Seneca
Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward dress should blend in with the crowd. Seneca
Be so busy building your own life that other people’s bullshit is of no concern. Ed Latimore
In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given. Ryan Holiday
We are quick to forget that just being alive is an extraordinary piece of good luck, a remote event, a chance occurrence of monstrous proportions. Nicholas Nassim Taleb
Difficulty is what wakes up the genius. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Funny, Surprising (And Sometimes Harsh) Stoic Quotes
A stoic is a Buddhist with attitude. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
If you have your heart set on wearing crowns, why not make one out of roses – you will look even more elegant in that. Marcus Aurelius
If you ever start taking things too seriously, just remember that we are talking monkeys on an organic spaceship flying through the universe. Joe Rogan
Don’t let jerks live rent-free in your head. Sam Altman (Y Combinator)
We are bacteria to the universe. We’re basically monkeys on a small rock orbiting a small backwards star in a huge galaxy, which is in an absolutely staggeringly gigantic universe, which itself may be part of a gigantic multiverse. Naval Ravikant
Don’t be the person that looks at the weather report the night before to decide what you are going to do the next day. David Goggins
Sometimes saying “fuck it” at the right time can be a very powerful thing. It tells your mind that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get to the other side. David Goggins
“Why did this happen to me?” Why not? Events will never conform perfectly to your desires. Move forward. @TheStoicEmperor
If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone’. Epictetus
I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived – and dying I will tend to later. Epictetus
The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain. Colin Wilson
Don’t get mad at others because life is kicking your ass. David Goggins
Deep, Philosophical And Emotional Stoic Quotes
What is to give light must endure burning. Viktor Frankl
Life is full of hostility — some of it overt, some clever and underhanded. Robert Greene
Expect the river to be wild, surprising and challenging. To expect the opposite is to live in delusion. Maxime Lagacé
You are scared of dying—and, tell me, is the kind of life you lead really any different than being dead? Seneca
You need not look about for the reward of a just deed; a just deed in itself offers a still greater return. Seneca
A nation is born stoic, and dies epicurean. Will Durant
Desire is a contract that you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. Naval Ravikant
Your existence, my existence is just infinitesimal. It’s like a firefly blinking once in the night. Naval Ravikant
The universe has been around for a long time, and the universe is a very, very large place. If you’ll study even the smallest bit of science, for all practical purposes we are nothing. Naval Ravikant
We’re not really here that long, and we don’t really matter that much. Nothing that we do lasts. Eventually, you will fade. Your works will fade. Your children will fade. Your thoughts will fade. These planets will fade. This sun will fade. It will all be gone. Naval Ravikant
Effortless stoicism will come when you have dismantled everything in your mind that produces reactions. James Pierce
This is an era of universal hyperbole. Every day delivers a new banality disguised as an emergency. Distrust your first reactions. Begin with the assumption that you are overreacting. Conserve your emotional energies for your real concerns. @TheStoicEmperor
You will eventually die and the world will keep moving. @LifeMathMoney
Take a deep breath. You’re living the dream life of hundreds of millions who are below poverty line people. You have some of the best comforts available to you. You live better than kings did 100 years ago! What the f*ck are you so worried and stressed out all the time about? @LifeMathMoney
“Why do I keep repeating harmful behaviors/habits when I know they are bad for me?” Because they give you pleasure or help you avoid discomfort. And you are too weak to let go of a little pleasure or to bear a little discomfort. @TheAncientSage
Unfollow the mind. Follow the heart. Mute the masses. @TheAncientSage
I’m happy as hell, but I’m also real. Happy didn’t get me here. But going through hell to get to where I’m at made me happy. David Goggins
Everyone faces up more bravely to a thing for which he has long prepared himself, sufferings, even, being withstood if they have been trained for in advance. Those who are unprepared, on the other hand, are panic-stricken by the most insignificant happenings. Seneca
What upsets people is not things themselves, but their judgements about these things. Epictetus
You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will. Epictetus
Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment. Donald J. Robertson
Whatever happens at all happens as it should; you will find this true, if you watch narrowly. Marcus Aurelius
Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend…or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are. Marcus Aurelius
Everything that happens is either endurable or not. If it’s endurable, then endure it. Stop complaining. If it’s unendurable… then stop complaining. Your destruction will mean its end as well. Just remember: you can endure anything your mind can make endurable, by treating it as in your interest to do so. Marcus Aurelius
An hour of deeply contemplating your own moral failures will leave you feeling much more forgiving of the foibles of others. @TheStoicEmperor
Many will choose the stability of slavery over the uncertainty of freedom. @TheStoicEmperor
Conviction is much more powerful than “positive thinking”. Positive thinking is fragile and easily shattered by random tragedy. Random tragedy is an inevitable feature of life. Conviction guides you through misfortune. It does not wish it away. Purpose outdoes positivity. @TheStoicEmperor
Much of what other people know isn’t worth knowing. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Always resignation and acceptance. Always prudence and honour and duty. Jane Austen
Wise Stoic Quotes (Words Of Wisdom)
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one. Voltaire
The phrase that I use the most to myself in my head is one word: accept. Naval Ravikant
True rewards – wealth, knowledge, love, fitness, and equanimity – come from ignoring others and improving ourselves. Naval Ravikant
A man is no bigger than the smallest thing that provokes him. Dan Horton
Some can delay gratification. Others don’t seek it at all. Be the latter. Maxime Lagacé
Show me someone for whom success is less important than the manner in which it is achieved. Of concern for the means, rather than the ends, of their actions…I want to see him. This is the person I have looked for a long time, the true genius. Epictetus
Short-term thinking makes people desperate, ungenerous, impulsive. Long-term thinking makes people calm, gracious, controlled. @TheStoicEmperor
Learn to detach yourself from the chaos of the battlefield. Robert Greene
The wise man needs nothing and yet he can make good use of anything, whereas the fool ‘needs’ countless things but can make good use of none of them. Donald J. Robertson
Welcome if it comes. Let go if it goes. Chase nothing. Cling to nothing. Remain unconcerned. @TheAncientSage
Wisdom lies in cheerful acceptance of whatever life throws at you. @TheAncientSage
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. Marcus Aurelius
Don’t allow yourself to be heard any longer griping about public life, not even with your own ears! Marcus Aurelius
Not to assume it’s impossible because you find it hard. But to recognize that if it’s humanly possible, you can do it too. Marcus Aurelius
Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours. Marcus Aurelius
Men seek out retreats for themselves in the country, by the seaside, on the mountains… nowhere can a man find a retreat more peaceful or more free from trouble than his own soul. Marcus Aurelius
Objective judgment, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now at this very moment. Willing acceptance – now at this very moment – of all external events. That’s all you need. Marcus Aurelius
“What is the work of a Master?” said a solemn-faced visitor. “To teach people to laugh,” said the Master gravely. Anthony de Mello
Understand what you can control and what you can’t. Forget about the things you can’t control and put that energy into the things you can control. Shane Parrish (fs.blog)
Intelligence consists in ignoring things that are irrelevant. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The wise man listens to meaning, the fool only gets the noise. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Heroes are heroes because they are heroic in behaviour, not because they won or lost. Nassim Nicholas Taleb
You can change it, you can accept it, or you can leave it. What is not a good option is to sit around wishing you would change it but not changing it, wishing you would leave it but not leaving it, and not accepting it. Naval Ravikant
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. Seneca
Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We’ve been using them not because we needed them but because we had them. Seneca
We must take a higher view of all things, and bear with them more easily: it better becomes a man to scoff at life than to lament over it. Seneca
He who laughs at the human race deserves better of it than he who mourns for it, for the former leaves it some good hopes of improvement, while the latter stupidly weeps over what he has given up all hopes of mending. Seneca
Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. Unknown
The world might call you a pessimist. Who cares? It’s far better to seem like a downer than to be blindsided or caught off guard. Ryan Holiday
No one is asking you to look at the world through rose-colored glasses. Ryan Holiday
Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second. Greg McKeown (Author of Essentialism)
You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything. Greg McKeown
Conclusion
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius