This article and collection of Stoicism quotes was inspired by a reread (listen to) of a favorite audiobook, The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday.

Ryan was introduced to Stoicism at age 19 via a fortuitous life-transforming recommendation that firmly set him on his own Stoic path. Filled with Stoic philosophy and historical stories and snippets of famous Stoics, The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, by Ryan Holiday is an epically important book destined to become a classic.

Even though I listened to this audiobook a few years ago, I loved it just as much the second time and didn’t want it to end. I gain tremendous fortitude from powerful and encouraging books and lessons like these, so I kept the flow of positive influence going by researching and compiling Stoicism and Stoic quotes.

But first a brief summary on Stoicism philosophy.

What is Stoicism?

Stoicism is an ancient Greco-Roman philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium.

Stoicism philosophy is the practice of equanimity, self control and objective reasoning. Stoics believe in the wisdom of not being rattled by the highs and lows of life. Rather, they seek to learn from them through observation and personal application of virtuous principles from the stability of a calm, rational and unflappable inner composure.

Stoic philosophy and Stoicism quotes focus on comporting oneself and one’s attitudes with nobility and dignity, no matter the circumstance. Stoics would be the calm in the eye of the hurricane… the fulcrum of a seesaw… the balanced scales of justice… a referee in a game.

Stoics perceive extreme emotions to be unstable, for extreme highs lead to extreme lows and that virtue lies in receiving all the woes and joys of life with equal aplomb and equanimity.

RELATED: Rumi’s Guest House Poem.

Stoic Virtues Include:

Stoics believe that virtue is the highest good, specifically in these 4 categories of virtues, expanded into subcategories:

• Wisdom
  • good sense
  • good calculation
  • quick-wittedness
  • discretion
  • resourcefulness
• Justice
  • piety
  • honesty
  • equity
  • fairness
• Courage
  • endurance
  • confidence
  • high-mindedness
  • cheerfulness
  • industriousness.
• Moderation
  • good discipline
  • seemliness
  • modesty
  • self-control
• The importance of lifelong learning and knowledge objectivity
• The wisdom of living in harmony with divine reason and the laws of nature
• Indifference to the vicissitudes of fortune, pleasure and pain\
• Mental and objective observation over emotional reactions and biases
• Self discipline, control and fortitude

For more on Stoicism, visit the DailyStoic.com, founded by Ryan Holiday, for the best organized and most thorough explanation and history on Stoicism.

Stoics recognize that the heights and depths of life are equal parts of the human experience and should both be accepted with equanimity.

What is Equanimity?

Equanimity is a state of equilibrium or calmness, even tempered and stable mentally and emotionally, especially under duress but also in the face of great excitement. To be equanimous is to be able to objectively assess the situation, especially under tension or strain with calmness and objectivity.

The Wisdom of the Stoics

The Stoics had it all figured out.

And all the sages through the ages.

Their teachings are millennia old, and yet the vast majority of people have never implemented it, even today.

While our technology is accelerating, our human operating systems take a lot longer to evolve, creating a tension everywhere to be seen and felt.

Today, Stoicism is making a resurgence with ~246,000 people per month searching the term ‘Stoicism’. This is good news, for we certainly need more equanimity and positivity in these tumultuous times. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
~John 1:5

It’s the Meaning That Matters

It’s not what happens but the meaning we give to whatever happens that makes all the difference in our experience of the day… each day.

When we truly realize that we have power over our minds and can bring the light of good cheer to this — and any day — our lives are forever transformed.

Anyone can be nice and kind and compassionate in good times. It is when we are tried through struggle and adversity that our true character shines through.

It is in adversity that our character is tested. It is in the struggle that we decide and become who it is we are to be. 
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder iCreateDaily.com®

Stoicism Quotes

These quotes are categorized alphabetically by the secondary theme relative to the Stoic approach to life.

Acceptance and Stoicism

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

What we do now echoes in eternity.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Anger and Stoicism Quotes

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Beauty and Stoicism Quotes

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Change and Stoicism Quotes

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Character and Stoicism Quotes

Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Contentment Quotes

“To have whatsoever he wishes is in no man’s power, it is in every man’s power not to wish for what he has not, but cheerfully to employ what comes to him.”
~Seneca, Stoic Philosopher, c.4 BC-65 AD

Criticism and Stoicism Quotes

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Critics and Stoicism Quotes

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

If any [wo]man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Destiny and Stoic Quotes

Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your destiny, for what could more aptly fit your needs?
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Dreams and Stoic Quotes

Regain your senses, call yourself back, and once again wake up. Now that you realize that only dreams were troubling you, view this ‘reality’ as you view your dreams.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Gratitude and Stoicism Quotes

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 Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”
~Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman, lawyer, philosopher, 106 BC-43 BC

When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Habits and Stoic Quotes

“We are what we repeatedly do, therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit.”
~Aristotle, ancient Greek philosopher, scientist, 384-322 BC

Happiness and Stoicism Quotes

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” 
~Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher born into slavery, c. 50 AD – c. 135 AD

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Harmony and Stoicism Quotes

You’ll have a better grasp of the harmony if you keep going back to it.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

History and the Past Stoic Quotes

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Humanity and Stoicism Quotes

Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Integrity and Stoicism Quotes

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whoever does injustice, does it to himself, making himself evil.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Roman Emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Life and Stoicism Quotes

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Light and Darkness Stoicism Quotes

Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it.
~Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor’s Handbook, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Meditation and Stoicism Quotes

For it is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Mind Power and Stoicism Quotes

You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Nobility and Stoicism Quotes

Waste no more time arguing about what a good [wo]man should be. Be one.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Obstacles and Stoicism Quotes

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

RELATED: The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday

Pain and Struggle Quotes

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Receive without conceit, release without struggle.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

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.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Image by JamesDeMers from Pixabay

Resilience and Stoicism Quotes

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Soul and Stoicism Quotes

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul
Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Strength and Stoicism Quotes

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Thoughts and Stoicism Quotes

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Our life is what our thoughts make it.
~Marcus Aurelius, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.
~Marcus Aurelius Meditations, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Truth and Stoicism Quotes

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

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 Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it.
~Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, philosopher, 121-180 AD

If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Victim and Stoicism Quotes

Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not “This is misfortune,” but “To bear this worthily is good fortune.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

None of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.
~Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher, 121-180 AD

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Image by 6212079 from Pixabay

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