Atharva31/Quotes_Collection · Datasets at Hugging Face

Unnamed: 0 int64 0 7.68k	quote stringlengths 1 3.91k	tags stringclasses 3 values
7,317	“Usually, that which could have been better could have been worse.”	stoicism
7,054	“Well begun is half done. This is something that depends on the mind; so when one is willing to become good, goodness is in large part achieved.”	stoicism
7,469	“What are virtues, if not practiced evenly in both times of joy and in hardships?”	stoicism
6,851	“Sometimes silence is a sign, not of not knowing what to say, but of knowing when to say what you know.”	stoicism
7,283	“For some reason, there is this façade that life should be full of happiness and without its suffering. Which, actually makes us suffer even more. Because when we get sad or something bad happens, we do not only feel bad about the thing itself but we also feel bad because our life is not the way it is supposed to be. Not realizing suffering and sadness is just a part of life and they are inevitable.”	stoicism
7,666	“I smile to catch the piranhas from swimming out of my mouth.”	stoicism
7,584	“Being a stoic does not mean being a robot. Being a stoic means remaining calm both at the height of pleasure and the depths of misery.”	stoicism
7,478	“Every second is a step away from our mothers’ wombs towards our own tombs.”	stoicism
7,292	“Some of our problems came to us; some, we went to them.”	stoicism
7,515	“Rejection of desire is liberating. Renunciation is a form of power.”	stoicism
7,155	“We each unwittingly contribute, each and every day, to the preventions and to the causes of millions of accidents.”	stoicism
7,476	“The qualities of stoic self-denial, self-sacrifice for others, patient labour, expiation for past error, willing acceptance of the burdens of life, were for him nobler manifestations of humanity than ostentatious feats of bravery, death-defying deeds of heroism or a life ruled by passions. He was persuaded that moral strength could best be displayed by silent endurance rather than by vehement anger and passionate rebellion.”	stoicism
7,240	“The person you are mad at for being late could be late.”	stoicism
6,888	“Above all, avoid falsehood, every kind of falsehood, especially falseness to yourself. Watch over your own deceitfulness and look into it every hour, every minute. Avoid being scornful, both to others and to yourself. What seems to you bad within you will grow purer from the very fact of your observing it in yourself. Avoid fear, too, though fear is only the consequence of every sort of falsehood. Never be frightened at your own faint-heartedness in attaining love.”	stoicism
7,165	“Life is the struggle of delaying death.”	stoicism
7,301	“Some of the people who we think care that we hate them do not even care that there are people who love them.”	stoicism
7,030	“... we find a complete contradiction in our wishing to live without suffering, a contradiction that is therefore implied by the frequently used phrase “blessed life.” This will certainly be clear to the person who has fully grasped my discussion that follows. This contradiction is revealed in this ethic of pure reason itself by the fact that the Stoic is compelled to insert a recommendation of suicide in his guide to the blissful life (for this is what his ethics always remains). This is like the costly phial of poison to be found among the magnificent ornaments and apparel of oriental despots, and is for the case where the sufferings of the body, incapable of being philosophized away by any principles and syllogisms, are paramount and incurable. Thus its sole purpose, namely blessedness, is frustrated, and nothing remains as a means of escape from pain except death. But then death must be taken with unconcern, just as is any other medicine. Here a marked contrast is evident between the Stoic ethics and all those other ethical systems mentioned above. These ethical systems make virtue directly and in itself the aim and object, even with the most grievous sufferings, and will not allow a man to end his life in order to escape from suffering. But not one of them knew how to express the true reason for rejecting suicide, but they laboriously collected fictitious arguments of every kind. This true reason will appear in the fourth book in connexion with our discussion. But the above-mentioned contrast reveals and confirms just that essential difference to be found in the fundamental principle between the Stoa, really only a special form of eudaemonism, and the doctrines just mentioned, although both often agree in their results, and are apparently related. But the above-mentioned inner contradiction, with which the Stoic ethics is affected even in its fundamental idea, further shows itself in the fact that its ideal, the Stoic sage as represented by this ethical system, could never obtain life or inner poetical truth, but remains a wooden, stiff lay-figure with whom one can do nothing. He himself does not know where to go with his wisdom, and his perfect peace, contentment, and blessedness directly contradict the nature of mankind, and do not enable us to arrive at any perceptive representation thereof. Compared with him, how entirely different appear the overcomers of the world and voluntary penitents, who are revealed to us, and are actually produced, by the wisdom of India; how different even the Saviour of Christianity, that excellent form full of the depth of life, of the greatest poetical truth and highest significance, who stands before us with perfect virtue, holiness, and sublimity, yet in a state of supreme suffering.”	stoicism
7,574	“Within, the only place where it is created, is the very last place most pursuers of happiness are likely to go.”	stoicism
7,025	“Nature is content with few things, and with a very little of these.”	stoicism
7,503	“There is no need to raise our hands to heaven; there is no need to implore the temple warden to allow us close to the ear of some graven image, as though this increased the chances of our being heard. God is near you, is with you, is inside you.”	stoicism
7,674	“There was no sign of Plato, and I was told later that he had gone to live in his Republic , where he was cheerfully submitting to his own Laws . [...] None of the Stoics were present. Rumour had it that they were still clambering up the steep hill of Virtue [...]. As for the Sceptics, it appeared that they were extremely anxious to get there, but still could not quite make up their minds whether or not the island really existed.”	stoicism
6,995	“It's only when you're breathing your last that the way you've spent your time will become apparent, "I accept the terms, and feel no dread of the coming judgment.”	stoicism
6,822	“Thoroughly convinced of the impossibility of his own suit, a high resolve constrained him not to injure that of another. This is a lover's most stoical virtue, as the lack of it is a lover's most venial sin.”	stoicism
7,636	“All outdoors may be bedlam, provided there is no disturbance within.”	stoicism
7,269	“The media’s goal is to literally challenge your ability to be still. A tough American, intent on improving upon their current self, is not tricked into an emotional reaction by these headlines. You do not write an angry tweet, you do not hurl an insult. You are cool and measured, and skeptical. You are curious what the agenda of the journalist might be and what facts or context they might be leaving out. You seek out a different story on the same topic from an opposing view, and you find out that many of the claims made in the original story were convincingly debunked. And just like that, you are a Zen master of stillness and Stoicism.”	stoicism
7,275	“Education teaches us how to make a living, not how to live.”	stoicism
7,623	“Progress daily in your own uncertainty. Live in awareness of the questions.”	stoicism
7,133	“Sometimes the only thing you can do is accept the fact that there is nothing you can do.”	stoicism
7,049	“A charming enemy comes to me as a friend; faults creep in calling themselves virtues; temerity cloaks itself with the name of courage; cowardice gets called moderation; and timidity passes itself off as caution.”	stoicism
7,362	“The degree of our happiness is not determined by (what we regard as) the source of our happiness.”	stoicism
7,483	“That you have just caught success after chasing it for many years does not mean that death will stop chasing you for at least a few seconds.”	stoicism
6,927	“The crossing of a blue bridge which bystanders who cannot distinguish from the blue of the horizon deem invisible.”	stoicism
7,401	“In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason.”	stoicism
6,828	“I fail to remember ever having made an effort — no trace of struggle is detectable in my life, I am the opposite of a heroic nature. To “want” something, to “strive” for something, to have an “end,” a “desire” in mind — I know none of this from my experience. Even at this moment I look out upon my future — a broad future! — as upon a smooth sea: no desire ripples upon it. Not in the least do I want anything to be different from what it is; I myself do not want to be any different ... But thus I have always lived.”	stoicism
7,496	“Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last a single day. They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast; It melts away. All laurels wither; all illusions fade; Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade, since time began.”	stoicism
6,897	“Distractions are the relentless waves of the ocean, crashing against the shores of our consciousness. They erode our resolve, and little by little, wash away the sandcastles of our focus. They arrive in various guises: the allure of trivial pleasures, the lure of the inconsequential, the din of idle gossip, the chains of past regret and the ghostly shadows of future anxieties. Each wave seeks to pull us into the depths of irrelevance, away from the firm ground of meaningful pursuits.”	stoicism
7,505	“[T]reat your inferiors in the way in which you would like to be treated by your own superiors.”	stoicism
7,490	“Melancholy isn't always a disorder that needs to be cured. It can be a species of intelligent grief which arises when we come face-to-face with the certainty that disappointment is written into the script from the start.”	stoicism
7,651	“If all emotions are common coin, then what is unique to the good man? To welcome with affection what is sent by fate. Not to stain or disturb the spirit within him with a mess of false beliefs. Instead, to preserve it faithfully, by calmly obeying God – saying nothing untrue, doing nothing unjust. And if the others don’t acknowledge it – this life lived in simplicity, humility, cheerfulness – he doesn’t resent them for it, and isn’t deterred from following the road where it leads: to the end of life. An end to be approached in purity, in serenity, in acceptance, in peaceful unity with what must be.”	stoicism
6,884	“In your conversation, don’t dwell at excessive length on your own deeds or adventures. Just because you enjoy recounting your exploits doesn’t mean that others derive the same pleasure from hearing about them.”	stoicism
6,978	“Me? I'm a Stoic. Every time my eyes are opened, I am eager to see the world anew.”	stoicism
7,295	“When you are alone, you should call this tranquility and freedom and when you are with many you shouldn’t call this a crowd, or trouble or uneasiness but festival and company and contentedly accept it.”	stoicism
7,290	“Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of anything mean nor will you desire anything extravagantly.”	stoicism
7,321	“A true believer in God prays only to thank, never to ask; and welcomes, with open arms, every single thing that is happening.”	stoicism
7,006	“Life is a series of problems we must navigate with grace - one problem solved, another arises, again and again until we die.”	stoicism
7,050	“Many millions of people secretly feel caged by employment, marriage, and/or parenthood.”	stoicism
7,128	“What is heard is pushed, but what is read is pulled, into the mind.”	stoicism
6,970	“Don’t let the force of an impression when it first hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it, “Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the test.” ~ Epictetus”	stoicism
7,527	“Meditation betters not only the mind but also the brain.”	stoicism
7,047	“Count yourself fortunate when you are able to live in a manner open to the public—when walls are there for shelter, not for concealment. For as a rule we think we have walls around us not to protect us but to afford greater privacy to our misdeeds.”	stoicism
7,004	“The ability to do without a kingdom is a kingdom.”	stoicism
7,263	“Často sa dopúšťa bezprávia aj ten, kto nič nerobí, nielen ten, kto niečo robí.”	stoicism
6,773	“It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.”	stoicism
7,435	“Detente particularmente en cada una de las acciones que haces y pregúntate si la muerte es terrible porque te priva de eso.”	stoicism
7,211	“Having to make a difficult or important decision is sometimes more agonizing than not having a choice.”	stoicism
6,798	“There will never come a time when I will be able to resist my emotions.”	stoicism
6,878	“An open eye in the dark, will find light...”	stoicism
7,379	“Equanimity is often mistaken for depression.”	stoicism
7,496	“Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last a single day. They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast; It melts away. All laurels wither; all illusions fade; Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade, since time began.”	stoicism
7,574	“Within, the only place where it is created, is the very last place most pursuers of happiness are likely to go.”	stoicism
6,844	“To the wise, peace of mind is the result of being fine with how things are; to the foolish, the result of things being fine.”	stoicism
7,607	“Perhaps struggle is all we have because the god of history is an atheist, and nothing about his world is meant to be. So you must wake up every morning knowing that no promise is unbreakable, least of all the promises of waking up at all. This is not despair. These are the preferences of universe itself: verbs over nouns, actions over states, struggle over hope.”	stoicism
6,915	“Life is short but life is long”	stoicism
6,897	“Distractions are the relentless waves of the ocean, crashing against the shores of our consciousness. They erode our resolve, and little by little, wash away the sandcastles of our focus. They arrive in various guises: the allure of trivial pleasures, the lure of the inconsequential, the din of idle gossip, the chains of past regret and the ghostly shadows of future anxieties. Each wave seeks to pull us into the depths of irrelevance, away from the firm ground of meaningful pursuits.”	stoicism
7,622	“Most of us are “living the dream” living, that is, the dream we once had for ourselves.”	stoicism
6,811	“If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.”	stoicism
7,125	“He who has more money or possessions than you is not necessarily happier than you, happy more often than you, or happy like you.”	stoicism
6,810	“You need to avoid certain things in your train of thought: everything random, everything irrelevant. And certainly everything self-important or malicious. You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, "What are your thinking about?" you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that.”	stoicism
6,803	“Remember two things: i. that everything has always been the same, and keeps recurring, and it makes no difference whether you see the same things recur in a hundred years or two hundred, or in an infinite period; ii. that the longest-lived and those who will die soonest lose the same thing. The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do not have you cannot lose.”	stoicism
6,786	“For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it? A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.”	stoicism
7,446	“For a life spent viewing all the variety, the majesty, the sublimity in things around us can never succumb to ennui: the feeling that one is tired of being, of existing, is usually the result of an idle and inactive leisure.”	stoicism
6,922	“There will come a day when i will be able to resist and control my emotions... And when that day comes, i will know that i truly made it,”	stoicism
7,147	“You can be too old to live, but not too young to die.”	stoicism
7,357	“The thing whose acquisition ‘made’ you happy need not be stolen, lost, or broken for ‘it’ to make you unhappy.”	stoicism
7,368	“If an adult has just moved as fast as a child, from crying to laughing, then it is either the laughter is fake, or they are being tickled.”	stoicism
7,398	“Our mind can be in heaven while our body is in hell. And vice versa.”	stoicism
7,643	“The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what is in Fortune's control and abandoning what lies in yours.”	stoicism
7,111	“Don't waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people- unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful.”	stoicism
6,796	“You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”	stoicism
7,594	“Yes, as my swift days near their goal, 'Tis all that I implore - In life and death, a chainless soul, With courage to endure.”	stoicism
7,056	“Even a poisonous snake is safe to handle in cold weather, when it is sluggish. Its venom is still there, but inactive. In the same way, there are many people whose cruelty, ambition, or self-indulgence fails to match the most outrageous cases only by the grace of fortune.”	stoicism
7,415	“[T]he man who spends his time choosing one resort after another in a hunt for peace and quiet, will in every place he visits find something to prevent him from relaxing. The story is told that someone complained to Socrates that travelling abroad had never done him any good and received the reply: "What else can you expect, seeing that you always take yourself along with you when you go abroad?‟”	stoicism
7,500	“We ought not, therefore, to give over our hearts for good to any one part of the world. We should live with the conviction: 'I wasn‟t born for one particular corner: the whole world‟s my home country.”	stoicism
6,937	“Our minds are a sanctuary; a safe haven which is totally impregnable to the outside world. It is only when we allow external problems and anxieties to enter our mind that this sanctuary becomes vulnerable.”	stoicism
7,379	“Equanimity is often mistaken for depression.”	stoicism
7,037	“I encouraged them to bear up against all evils, and if we must perish, to die in our own cause, and not weakly distrust the providence of the Almighty, by giving ourselves up to despair. I reasoned with them, and told them that we would not die sooner by keeping up our hopes; that the dreadful sacrifices and privations we endured were to preserve us from death, and were not to be put in competition with the price which we set upon our lives, and their value to our families: it was, besides, unmanly to repine at what neither admitted of alleviation nor cure; and withal, that it was our solemn duty to recognise in our calamities an overruling divinity, by whose mercy we might be suddenly snatched from peril, and to rely upon him alone, ‘Who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb?”	stoicism
7,518	“We can always choose not what we see but how we look at what we see.”	stoicism
7,590	“You have the power to strip away many superfluous troubles located wholly in your judgement, and to possess a large room for yourself embracing in thought the whole cosmos, to consider everlasting time, to think of the rapid change in the parts of each thing, of how short it is from birth until dissolution, and how the void before birth and that after dissolution are equally infinite.”	stoicism
7,224	“It is impossible to separate the art of living from the art of dying, because to be living is to be dying.”	stoicism
7,675	“He is the kind of person I should expect to rescue one from a mad dog at any risk but then insist on a stoical indifference to the fright afterward." Jefferson Davis's future wife describing him at first meeting.”	stoicism
7,454	“Love me for my affection, love me even for my weakness; I am satisfied myself. I prefer my feelings to all the fine sentiments of Seneca or Epictetus.”	stoicism
7,170	“You can wear an expensive watch and still be late.”	stoicism
7,245	“Living is the outside of dying.”	stoicism
7,471	“Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.”	stoicism
7,403	“Disturbance comes only from within- from our own perceptions. Everything you see will soon alter and cease to exist”	stoicism
7,327	“Engineers can prove that a bumblebee, with its heavy body and little bitty wings, can't fly. But nobody tells the bumblebees ... and they fly just fine.”	stoicism
7,345	“An accident is often caused by an attempt to prevent one.”	stoicism
6,899	“The act of focusing is not simply the mental equivalent of gazing intently at an object. It is a confluence, a harmonious marriage of mind, heart, and will, an alignment akin to a troupe of actors on a stage, each playing their part, but all moving in harmony towards the climax of the play. This is the essence of true focus.”	stoicism
7,591	“We might never rid ourselves of a lingering anxiety regarding our death; this is a kind of tax we pay in return for self-awareness.”	stoicism
7,132	“We do not need to lose people or things to appreciate them.”	stoicism

7,317

“Usually, that which could have been better could have been worse.”

stoicism

7,054

“Well begun is half done. This is something that depends on the mind; so when one is willing to become good, goodness is in large part achieved.”

stoicism

7,469

“What are virtues, if not practiced evenly in both times of joy and in hardships?”

stoicism

6,851

“Sometimes silence is a sign, not of not knowing what to say, but of knowing when to say what you know.”

stoicism

7,283

“For some reason, there is this façade that life should be full of happiness and without its suffering. Which, actually makes us suffer even more. Because when we get sad or something bad happens, we do not only feel bad about the thing itself but we also feel bad because our life is not the way it is supposed to be. Not realizing suffering and sadness is just a part of life and they are inevitable.”

stoicism

7,666

“I smile to catch the piranhas from swimming out of my mouth.”

stoicism

7,584

“Being a stoic does not mean being a robot. Being a stoic means remaining calm both at the height of pleasure and the depths of misery.”

stoicism

7,478

“Every second is a step away from our mothers’ wombs towards our own tombs.”

stoicism

7,292

“Some of our problems came to us; some, we went to them.”

stoicism

7,515

“Rejection of desire is liberating. Renunciation is a form of power.”

stoicism

7,155

“We each unwittingly contribute, each and every day, to the preventions and to the causes of millions of accidents.”

stoicism

7,476

“The qualities of stoic self-denial, self-sacrifice for others, patient labour, expiation for past error, willing acceptance of the burdens of life, were for him nobler manifestations of humanity than ostentatious feats of bravery, death-defying deeds of heroism or a life ruled by passions. He was persuaded that moral strength could best be displayed by silent endurance rather than by vehement anger and passionate rebellion.”

stoicism

7,240

“The person you are mad at for being late could be late.”

stoicism

6,888

“Above all, avoid falsehood, every kind of falsehood, especially falseness to yourself. Watch over your own deceitfulness and look into it every hour, every minute. Avoid being scornful, both to others and to yourself. What seems to you bad within you will grow purer from the very fact of your observing it in yourself. Avoid fear, too, though fear is only the consequence of every sort of falsehood. Never be frightened at your own faint-heartedness in attaining love.”

stoicism

7,165

“Life is the struggle of delaying death.”

stoicism

7,301

“Some of the people who we think care that we hate them do not even care that there are people who love them.”

stoicism

7,030

“... we find a complete contradiction in our wishing to live without suffering, a contradiction that is therefore implied by the frequently used phrase “blessed life.” This will certainly be clear to the person who has fully grasped my discussion that follows. This contradiction is revealed in this ethic of pure reason itself by the fact that the Stoic is compelled to insert a recommendation of suicide in his guide to the blissful life (for this is what his ethics always remains). This is like the costly phial of poison to be found among the magnificent ornaments and apparel of oriental despots, and is for the case where the sufferings of the body, incapable of being philosophized away by any principles and syllogisms, are paramount and incurable. Thus its sole purpose, namely blessedness, is frustrated, and nothing remains as a means of escape from pain except death. But then death must be taken with unconcern, just as is any other medicine. Here a marked contrast is evident between the Stoic ethics and all those other ethical systems mentioned above. These ethical systems make virtue directly and in itself the aim and object, even with the most grievous sufferings, and will not allow a man to end his life in order to escape from suffering. But not one of them knew how to express the true reason for rejecting suicide, but they laboriously collected fictitious arguments of every kind. This true reason will appear in the fourth book in connexion with our discussion. But the above-mentioned contrast reveals and confirms just that essential difference to be found in the fundamental principle between the Stoa, really only a special form of eudaemonism, and the doctrines just mentioned, although both often agree in their results, and are apparently related. But the above-mentioned inner contradiction, with which the Stoic ethics is affected even in its fundamental idea, further shows itself in the fact that its ideal, the Stoic sage as represented by this ethical system, could never obtain life or inner poetical truth, but remains a wooden, stiff lay-figure with whom one can do nothing. He himself does not know where to go with his wisdom, and his perfect peace, contentment, and blessedness directly contradict the nature of mankind, and do not enable us to arrive at any perceptive representation thereof. Compared with him, how entirely different appear the overcomers of the world and voluntary penitents, who are revealed to us, and are actually produced, by the wisdom of India; how different even the Saviour of Christianity, that excellent form full of the depth of life, of the greatest poetical truth and highest significance, who stands before us with perfect virtue, holiness, and sublimity, yet in a state of supreme suffering.”

stoicism

7,574

“Within, the only place where it is created, is the very last place most pursuers of happiness are likely to go.”

stoicism

7,025

“Nature is content with few things, and with a very little of these.”

stoicism

7,503

“There is no need to raise our hands to heaven; there is no need to implore the temple warden to allow us close to the ear of some graven image, as though this increased the chances of our being heard. God is near you, is with you, is inside you.”

stoicism

7,674

“There was no sign of Plato, and I was told later that he had gone to live in his Republic , where he was cheerfully submitting to his own Laws . [...] None of the Stoics were present. Rumour had it that they were still clambering up the steep hill of Virtue [...]. As for the Sceptics, it appeared that they were extremely anxious to get there, but still could not quite make up their minds whether or not the island really existed.”

stoicism

6,995

“It's only when you're breathing your last that the way you've spent your time will become apparent, "I accept the terms, and feel no dread of the coming judgment.”

stoicism

6,822

“Thoroughly convinced of the impossibility of his own suit, a high resolve constrained him not to injure that of another. This is a lover's most stoical virtue, as the lack of it is a lover's most venial sin.”

stoicism

7,636

“All outdoors may be bedlam, provided there is no disturbance within.”

stoicism

7,269

“The media’s goal is to literally challenge your ability to be still. A tough American, intent on improving upon their current self, is not tricked into an emotional reaction by these headlines. You do not write an angry tweet, you do not hurl an insult. You are cool and measured, and skeptical. You are curious what the agenda of the journalist might be and what facts or context they might be leaving out. You seek out a different story on the same topic from an opposing view, and you find out that many of the claims made in the original story were convincingly debunked. And just like that, you are a Zen master of stillness and Stoicism.”

stoicism

7,275

“Education teaches us how to make a living, not how to live.”

stoicism

7,623

“Progress daily in your own uncertainty. Live in awareness of the questions.”

stoicism

7,133

“Sometimes the only thing you can do is accept the fact that there is nothing you can do.”

stoicism

7,049

“A charming enemy comes to me as a friend; faults creep in calling themselves virtues; temerity cloaks itself with the name of courage; cowardice gets called moderation; and timidity passes itself off as caution.”

stoicism

7,362

“The degree of our happiness is not determined by (what we regard as) the source of our happiness.”

stoicism

7,483

“That you have just caught success after chasing it for many years does not mean that death will stop chasing you for at least a few seconds.”

stoicism

6,927

“The crossing of a blue bridge which bystanders who cannot distinguish from the blue of the horizon deem invisible.”

stoicism

7,401

“In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason.”

stoicism

6,828

“I fail to remember ever having made an effort — no trace of struggle is detectable in my life, I am the opposite of a heroic nature. To “want” something, to “strive” for something, to have an “end,” a “desire” in mind — I know none of this from my experience. Even at this moment I look out upon my future — a broad future! — as upon a smooth sea: no desire ripples upon it. Not in the least do I want anything to be different from what it is; I myself do not want to be any different ... But thus I have always lived.”

stoicism

7,496

“Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last a single day. They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast; It melts away. All laurels wither; all illusions fade; Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade, since time began.”

stoicism

6,897

“Distractions are the relentless waves of the ocean, crashing against the shores of our consciousness. They erode our resolve, and little by little, wash away the sandcastles of our focus. They arrive in various guises: the allure of trivial pleasures, the lure of the inconsequential, the din of idle gossip, the chains of past regret and the ghostly shadows of future anxieties. Each wave seeks to pull us into the depths of irrelevance, away from the firm ground of meaningful pursuits.”

stoicism

7,505

“[T]reat your inferiors in the way in which you would like to be treated by your own superiors.”

stoicism

7,490

“Melancholy isn't always a disorder that needs to be cured. It can be a species of intelligent grief which arises when we come face-to-face with the certainty that disappointment is written into the script from the start.”

stoicism

7,651

“If all emotions are common coin, then what is unique to the good man? To welcome with affection what is sent by fate. Not to stain or disturb the spirit within him with a mess of false beliefs. Instead, to preserve it faithfully, by calmly obeying God – saying nothing untrue, doing nothing unjust. And if the others don’t acknowledge it – this life lived in simplicity, humility, cheerfulness – he doesn’t resent them for it, and isn’t deterred from following the road where it leads: to the end of life. An end to be approached in purity, in serenity, in acceptance, in peaceful unity with what must be.”

stoicism

6,884

“In your conversation, don’t dwell at excessive length on your own deeds or adventures. Just because you enjoy recounting your exploits doesn’t mean that others derive the same pleasure from hearing about them.”

stoicism

6,978

“Me? I'm a Stoic. Every time my eyes are opened, I am eager to see the world anew.”

stoicism

7,295

“When you are alone, you should call this tranquility and freedom and when you are with many you shouldn’t call this a crowd, or trouble or uneasiness but festival and company and contentedly accept it.”

stoicism

7,290

“Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes; but most of all death: and you will never think of anything mean nor will you desire anything extravagantly.”

stoicism

7,321

“A true believer in God prays only to thank, never to ask; and welcomes, with open arms, every single thing that is happening.”

stoicism

7,006

“Life is a series of problems we must navigate with grace - one problem solved, another arises, again and again until we die.”

stoicism

7,050

“Many millions of people secretly feel caged by employment, marriage, and/or parenthood.”

stoicism

7,128

“What is heard is pushed, but what is read is pulled, into the mind.”

stoicism

6,970

“Don’t let the force of an impression when it first hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it, “Hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the test.” ~ Epictetus”

stoicism

7,527

“Meditation betters not only the mind but also the brain.”

stoicism

7,047

“Count yourself fortunate when you are able to live in a manner open to the public—when walls are there for shelter, not for concealment. For as a rule we think we have walls around us not to protect us but to afford greater privacy to our misdeeds.”

stoicism

7,004

“The ability to do without a kingdom is a kingdom.”

stoicism

7,263

“Často sa dopúšťa bezprávia aj ten, kto nič nerobí, nielen ten, kto niečo robí.”

stoicism

6,773

“It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable.”

stoicism

7,435

“Detente particularmente en cada una de las acciones que haces y pregúntate si la muerte es terrible porque te priva de eso.”

stoicism

7,211

“Having to make a difficult or important decision is sometimes more agonizing than not having a choice.”

stoicism

6,798

“There will never come a time when I will be able to resist my emotions.”

stoicism

6,878

“An open eye in the dark, will find light...”

stoicism

7,379

“Equanimity is often mistaken for depression.”

stoicism

7,496

“Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last a single day. They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast; It melts away. All laurels wither; all illusions fade; Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade, since time began.”

stoicism

7,574

“Within, the only place where it is created, is the very last place most pursuers of happiness are likely to go.”

stoicism

6,844

“To the wise, peace of mind is the result of being fine with how things are; to the foolish, the result of things being fine.”

stoicism

7,607

“Perhaps struggle is all we have because the god of history is an atheist, and nothing about his world is meant to be. So you must wake up every morning knowing that no promise is unbreakable, least of all the promises of waking up at all. This is not despair. These are the preferences of universe itself: verbs over nouns, actions over states, struggle over hope.”

stoicism

6,915

“Life is short but life is long”

stoicism

6,897

“Distractions are the relentless waves of the ocean, crashing against the shores of our consciousness. They erode our resolve, and little by little, wash away the sandcastles of our focus. They arrive in various guises: the allure of trivial pleasures, the lure of the inconsequential, the din of idle gossip, the chains of past regret and the ghostly shadows of future anxieties. Each wave seeks to pull us into the depths of irrelevance, away from the firm ground of meaningful pursuits.”

stoicism

7,622

“Most of us are “living the dream” living, that is, the dream we once had for ourselves.”

stoicism

6,811

“If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don't aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don't altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn't easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.”

stoicism

7,125

“He who has more money or possessions than you is not necessarily happier than you, happy more often than you, or happy like you.”

stoicism

6,810

“You need to avoid certain things in your train of thought: everything random, everything irrelevant. And certainly everything self-important or malicious. You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, "What are your thinking about?" you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that.”

stoicism

6,803

“Remember two things: i. that everything has always been the same, and keeps recurring, and it makes no difference whether you see the same things recur in a hundred years or two hundred, or in an infinite period; ii. that the longest-lived and those who will die soonest lose the same thing. The present is all that they can give up, since that is all you have, and what you do not have you cannot lose.”

stoicism

6,786

“For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it? A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.”

stoicism

7,446

“For a life spent viewing all the variety, the majesty, the sublimity in things around us can never succumb to ennui: the feeling that one is tired of being, of existing, is usually the result of an idle and inactive leisure.”

stoicism

6,922

“There will come a day when i will be able to resist and control my emotions... And when that day comes, i will know that i truly made it,”

stoicism

7,147

“You can be too old to live, but not too young to die.”

stoicism

7,357

“The thing whose acquisition ‘made’ you happy need not be stolen, lost, or broken for ‘it’ to make you unhappy.”

stoicism

7,368

“If an adult has just moved as fast as a child, from crying to laughing, then it is either the laughter is fake, or they are being tickled.”

stoicism

7,398

“Our mind can be in heaven while our body is in hell. And vice versa.”

stoicism

7,643

“The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what is in Fortune's control and abandoning what lies in yours.”

stoicism

7,111

“Don't waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people- unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful.”

stoicism

6,796

“You know yourself what you are worth in your own eyes; and at what price you will sell yourself. For men sell themselves at various prices. This is why, when Florus was deliberating whether he should appear at Nero's shows, taking part in the performance himself, Agrippinus replied, 'Appear by all means.' And when Florus inquired, 'But why do not you appear?' he answered, 'Because I do not even consider the question.' For the man who has once stooped to consider such questions, and to reckon up the value of external things, is not far from forgetting what manner of man he is.”

stoicism

7,594

“Yes, as my swift days near their goal, 'Tis all that I implore - In life and death, a chainless soul, With courage to endure.”

stoicism

7,056

“Even a poisonous snake is safe to handle in cold weather, when it is sluggish. Its venom is still there, but inactive. In the same way, there are many people whose cruelty, ambition, or self-indulgence fails to match the most outrageous cases only by the grace of fortune.”

stoicism

7,415

“[T]he man who spends his time choosing one resort after another in a hunt for peace and quiet, will in every place he visits find something to prevent him from relaxing. The story is told that someone complained to Socrates that travelling abroad had never done him any good and received the reply: "What else can you expect, seeing that you always take yourself along with you when you go abroad?‟”

stoicism

7,500

“We ought not, therefore, to give over our hearts for good to any one part of the world. We should live with the conviction: 'I wasn‟t born for one particular corner: the whole world‟s my home country.”

stoicism

6,937

“Our minds are a sanctuary; a safe haven which is totally impregnable to the outside world. It is only when we allow external problems and anxieties to enter our mind that this sanctuary becomes vulnerable.”

stoicism

7,379

“Equanimity is often mistaken for depression.”

stoicism

7,037

“I encouraged them to bear up against all evils, and if we must perish, to die in our own cause, and not weakly distrust the providence of the Almighty, by giving ourselves up to despair. I reasoned with them, and told them that we would not die sooner by keeping up our hopes; that the dreadful sacrifices and privations we endured were to preserve us from death, and were not to be put in competition with the price which we set upon our lives, and their value to our families: it was, besides, unmanly to repine at what neither admitted of alleviation nor cure; and withal, that it was our solemn duty to recognise in our calamities an overruling divinity, by whose mercy we might be suddenly snatched from peril, and to rely upon him alone, ‘Who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb?”

stoicism

7,518

“We can always choose not what we see but how we look at what we see.”

stoicism

7,590

“You have the power to strip away many superfluous troubles located wholly in your judgement, and to possess a large room for yourself embracing in thought the whole cosmos, to consider everlasting time, to think of the rapid change in the parts of each thing, of how short it is from birth until dissolution, and how the void before birth and that after dissolution are equally infinite.”

stoicism

7,224

“It is impossible to separate the art of living from the art of dying, because to be living is to be dying.”

stoicism

7,675

“He is the kind of person I should expect to rescue one from a mad dog at any risk but then insist on a stoical indifference to the fright afterward." Jefferson Davis's future wife describing him at first meeting.”

stoicism

7,454

“Love me for my affection, love me even for my weakness; I am satisfied myself. I prefer my feelings to all the fine sentiments of Seneca or Epictetus.”

stoicism

7,170

“You can wear an expensive watch and still be late.”

stoicism

7,245

“Living is the outside of dying.”

stoicism

7,471

“Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.”

stoicism

7,403

“Disturbance comes only from within- from our own perceptions. Everything you see will soon alter and cease to exist”

stoicism

7,327

“Engineers can prove that a bumblebee, with its heavy body and little bitty wings, can't fly. But nobody tells the bumblebees ... and they fly just fine.”

stoicism

7,345

“An accident is often caused by an attempt to prevent one.”

stoicism

6,899

“The act of focusing is not simply the mental equivalent of gazing intently at an object. It is a confluence, a harmonious marriage of mind, heart, and will, an alignment akin to a troupe of actors on a stage, each playing their part, but all moving in harmony towards the climax of the play. This is the essence of true focus.”

stoicism

7,591

“We might never rid ourselves of a lingering anxiety regarding our death; this is a kind of tax we pay in return for self-awareness.”

stoicism

7,132

“We do not need to lose people or things to appreciate them.”

stoicism