Atharva31/Quotes_Collection · Datasets at Hugging Face

Unnamed: 0 int64 0 7.68k	quote stringlengths 1 3.91k	tags stringclasses 3 values
7,636	“All outdoors may be bedlam, provided there is no disturbance within.”	stoicism
7,563	“The fact that our minds are problem-solving machines says a lot about the nature of life.”	stoicism
7,289	“...but if you think that only which is your own to be your own, and if you think that what is another’s, as it really is, belongs to another, no man will ever compel you, no man will hinder you, you will never blame any man, you will accuse no man, you will do nothing involuntarily (against your will), no man will harm you, you will have no enemy, for you will not suffer any harm.”	stoicism
6,869	“Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. Is then the fruit of or a fig-tree not perfected suddenly and in one hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man's mind in so short a time and so easily? Do not expect it, even if I tell you”	stoicism
7,521	“We need not reply or even listen to people who are talking about—not to—us.”	stoicism
7,247	“You can look unhappy but feel the opposite. Or vice versa.”	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
7,067	“The present moment is the entirety of reality.”	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
7,103	“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”	stoicism
6,771	“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.”	stoicism
7,144	“He never exhibited rudeness, lost control of himself, or turned violent. No one ever saw him sweat. Everything was to be approached logically and with due consideration, in a calm and orderly fashion but decisively, and with no loose ends.”	stoicism
7,062	“Praying deceives us into thinking that we are doing something about what we are praying for.”	stoicism
7,606	“In conformity with this spirit and aim of the Stoa, Epictetus begins with it and constantly returns to it as the kernel of his philosophy, that we should bear in mind and distinguish what depends on us and what does not, and thus should not count on the latter at all. In this way we shall certainly remain free from all pain, suffering, and anxiety. Now what depends on us is the will alone, and here there gradually takes place a transition to a doctrine of virtue, since it is noticed that, as the external world that is independent of us determines good and bad fortune, so inner satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ourselves proceeds from the will. But later it was asked whether we should attribute the names bonum et malum to the two former or to the two latter. This was really arbitrary and a matter of choice, and made no difference. But yet the Stoics argued incessantly about this with the Peripatetics and Epicureans, and amused themselves with the inadmissible comparison of two wholly incommensurable quantities and with the contrary and paradoxical judgements arising therefrom, which they cast on one another. An interesting collection of these is afforded us from the Stoic side by the Paradoxa of Cicero." —from_The World as Will and Representation_. Translated from the German by E. F. J. Paye in two volumes: volume I, pp. 88-89”	stoicism
7,322	“[...] so läßt der, welcher der Lust nachjagt, alles andere liegen, und die Freiheit ist das erste, was er preisgibt [...]”	stoicism
7,087	“Unlearning makes learning at least three times longer than necessary.”	stoicism
7,271	“There was no meaning in why he was here, but he was, and that was enough.”	stoicism
7,597	“You should, I need hardly say, live in such a way that there is nothing which you could not as easily tell your enemy as keep to yourself.”	stoicism
7,150	“Funerals greatly exaggerate the pleasantness of being alive, while they prevent us from thinking about the advantages of being dead.”	stoicism
7,392	“Life is 99 percent attitude. Yet for the majority of people, it is the remaining one percent that dominates 99 percent of their life.”	stoicism
6,783	“Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha ? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates ? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus ? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus ? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster ? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze , more universal than Confucius ? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno ? Did he express grander truths than Cicero ? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza ’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler ’s or Newton ’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno ? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare , the greatest of the human race?”	stoicism
7,273	“Si len úbohá dušička nesúca mŕtvolu,” ako vravel Epiktetos.”	stoicism
7,000	“Will you never come to a realisation of who you are, what you have been born for and the purpose for which the gift of vision was made in our case?”	stoicism
6,853	“Employers pay with their money for what employees have paid for with portions of their lives.”	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
7,512	“It is a rare blessing to see things, and to accept people, as they are.”	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
6,914	“Birds weren’t given wings just to walk everywhere . . . and you weren’t born with resilience and a beautiful mind just to have an easy life.”	stoicism
7,660	“Even the least of our activities ought to have some end in view.”	stoicism
7,626	“And here 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, hat 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.”	stoicism
6,797	“Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness.”	stoicism
6,835	“The stoics divided philosophy into three branches: logic, physics, and ethics. Logic covered not only the rules of correct argumentation, but also grammar, linguistics, rhetorical theory, epistemology, and all the tools that might be needed to discover the truth of any matter. Physics was concerned with the nature of the world and the laws that govern it, and so included ontology and theology as well as what we would recognize as physics, astronomy, and cosmology. Ethics was concerned with how to achieve happiness, or how to live a fulfilled and flourishing life as a human being. A stoic sage was supposed to be fully expert in all three aspects.”	stoicism
6,932	“We should remember that even Nature's inadvertence has its own charm, its own attractiveness. Take the baking of bread. The loaf splits open here and there, and those very cracks, in one way a failure of the baker's profession, somehow catch the eye and give particular stimulus to our appetite.”	stoicism
6,998	“Even as the Sun doth not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so thou also wait not for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do thy duty; nay, do good of thine own accord, and thou wilt be loved like the Sun.”	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
7,218	“We all die having lived a full life, even those who die while they are being born.”	stoicism
7,193	“Our caring about what others think about us is one of the pillars of the economy.”	stoicism
7,229	“Pleasure is often felt through the tongue or genitals as an attempt to distract oneself from the pain one is feeling through the heart.”	stoicism
7,445	“Destroying the seeds of disappointment requires you to unexpect the expected.”	stoicism
7,070	“If one accomplishes some good though with toil, the toil passes, but the good remains; if one does something dishonourable with pleasure, the pleasure passes, but the dishonour remains.”	stoicism
7,072	“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will — then your life will flow well.”	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
7,164	“If you care about yourself at all, come to your own aid while there’s still time.”	stoicism
6,779	“Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control.”	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
7,399	“That you are about to bury or have just buried your loved one does not make you and your loved ones immortal for a while.”	stoicism
7,039	“At the heart of stoicism lay the desire to disappoint oneself before someone else had the chance to do so. Stoicism was a crude defense against the dangers of the affections of others, dangers that would take more endurance than a life in the desert to be able to face.”	stoicism
7,361	“Love, unless it is for life as a whole, is contaminated by things such as our preferences and memories.”	stoicism
7,374	“And if you want to know why all this running away cannot help you, the answer is simply this: you are running away in your own company.”	stoicism
7,547	“Life is yet to produce someone who is loved by or important to everyone.”	stoicism
7,613	“Sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy.”	stoicism
7,631	“Emilio was certainly within his rights not to reveal the sordid details of his childhood even to his friends. Or perhaps especially to his friends, whose good opinion of him, he might feel, would not survive the revelations.”	stoicism
7,130	“The best kind of pleasure comes from the indifference to pain … and pleasure.”	stoicism
7,026	“At any moment we may be toppled from our perch and made to do with less—less money, less recognition, less access, less resources. Even the “less-es” that come with age: less mobility, less energy, less freedom. But we can prepare for that, in some way, by familiarizing ourselves with what that might feel like.”	stoicism
6,902	“True focus is the ability to summon our mental strength when it is required and to let it rest when it is not.”	stoicism
7,045	“If ever you want to find out whether anything has been achieved, observe whether your intentions are the same today as they were yesterday. A change of intention shows that the mind is at sea, drifting here and there as carried by the wind.”	stoicism
7,545	“It is impossible to trip and fall while walking slowly.”	stoicism
7,452	“We often do not, not because we cannot, but because we think so.”	stoicism
7,282	“Appreciating what you have is the best cure for missing what you have lost.”	stoicism
7,082	“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”	stoicism
7,345	“An accident is often caused by an attempt to prevent one.”	stoicism
7,655	“The boon that could be given can be withdrawn.”	stoicism
7,053	“The first sign of a settled mind is that it can stay in one place and spend time with itself.” – Seneca, Letter 2.1”	stoicism
6,890	“At its core, Stoicism, like the sturdy oak tree, stands firm amidst the torrential downpour of life’s distractions. It teaches us that while we may not command the winds to change, we possess the power to adjust our sails, to guide our minds through the tumultuous sea of life’s happenings.”	stoicism
6,876	“All roads to Hades are of equal length”	stoicism
7,456	“It's with a heavy heart that I assure you that regardless of how lasting your fortune feels, it can be taken from you before you can even think to try to hold on.”	stoicism
6,973	“The most terrifying ghosts that haunt us are the ones of our dead dreams, especially if we were the murderers.”	stoicism
6,934	“The afternoon presents an intersection where the momentum that we have gained in the morning may be either sustained or lost – where we can choose to either build on the morning’s foundations and embrace our challenges, or allow the stress and frustration of the day to ruin all our hard work.”	stoicism
7,074	“Most adults make adulthood seem like a disease that is caused by a deficiency of playfulness.”	stoicism
7,266	“Halleck came from people who regarded a slight change of facial expression as adequate to convey the pain of a severed limb.”	stoicism
7,401	“In order to protect ourselves we must live like doctors and be continually treating ourselves with reason.”	stoicism
7,325	“Giving in to sleep is a great opportunity to practice letting go of life.”	stoicism
7,593	“[I]ndulge the body just so far as suffices for good health. It needs to be treated somewhat strictly to prevent it from being disobedient to the spirit. Your food should appease your hunger, your drink quench your thirst, your clothing keep out the cold, your house be a protection against inclement weather.”	stoicism
6,925	“Perchance some day the memory of this sorrow Will even bring delight”	stoicism
7,136	“It is foolish to expect a fool to act wisely.”	stoicism
7,488	“I value my time so much that undressing is the only thing I am willing to do for sex.”	stoicism
7,671	“Confronting the worst-case scenario saps it of much of its anxiety-inducing power. Happiness reached via positive thinking can be fleeting and brittle, negative visualization generates a vastly more dependable calm.”	stoicism
7,389	“How was your day?’ ought to be ‘How did you look at your day?”	stoicism
7,020	“To act wise isn’t to act wisely.”	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
7,103	“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”	stoicism
7,411	“All vices are at odds with nature.”	stoicism
7,280	“The problem with pleasure is that it needs to be intermittent in order to retain its pleasantness.”	stoicism
7,062	“Praying deceives us into thinking that we are doing something about what we are praying for.”	stoicism
6,789	“Regard [a friend] as loyal, and you will make him loyal.”	stoicism
7,051	“Most people frequently waste their life, mostly in front of a screen.”	stoicism
7,566	“Life is a game we are all bound to lose.”	stoicism
6,770	“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”	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
6,804	“From the philosopher Catulus, never to be dismissive of a friend's accusation, even if it seems unreasonable, but to make every effort to restore the relationship to its normal condition.”	stoicism
6,967	“[A] man ought to be prepared in a manner for this also, to be able to be sufficient for himself and to be his own companion. [...] [S]o ought we also to be able to talk with ourselves, not to feel the want of others also, not to be unprovided with the means of passing our time; to observe the divine administration and the relation of ourselves to everything else; to consider how we formerly were affected toward things that happen and how at present; what are still the things which give us pain; how these also can be cured and how removed; if any things require improvement, to improve them according to reason.”	stoicism
7,254	“Remind yourself that what you love is mortal … at the very moment you are taking joy in something, present yourself with the opposite impressions. What harm is it, just when you are kissing your little child, to say: Tomorrow you will die, or to your friend similarly: Tomorrow one of us will go away, and we shall not see one another any more?”	stoicism
7,526	“The happiest people are not those who have the most, but those who are the most grateful for what they have.”	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
7,606	“In conformity with this spirit and aim of the Stoa, Epictetus begins with it and constantly returns to it as the kernel of his philosophy, that we should bear in mind and distinguish what depends on us and what does not, and thus should not count on the latter at all. In this way we shall certainly remain free from all pain, suffering, and anxiety. Now what depends on us is the will alone, and here there gradually takes place a transition to a doctrine of virtue, since it is noticed that, as the external world that is independent of us determines good and bad fortune, so inner satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ourselves proceeds from the will. But later it was asked whether we should attribute the names bonum et malum to the two former or to the two latter. This was really arbitrary and a matter of choice, and made no difference. But yet the Stoics argued incessantly about this with the Peripatetics and Epicureans, and amused themselves with the inadmissible comparison of two wholly incommensurable quantities and with the contrary and paradoxical judgements arising therefrom, which they cast on one another. An interesting collection of these is afforded us from the Stoic side by the Paradoxa of Cicero." —from_The World as Will and Representation_. Translated from the German by E. F. J. Paye in two volumes: volume I, pp. 88-89”	stoicism
6,930	“He is a slave.'' But shall that stand in his way? Show me a man who is not a slave; one is a slave to lust, another to greed, another to ambition, and all men are slaves to fear.”	stoicism
7,460	“A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.”	stoicism
6,975	“The most beautiful things come from the hardest conditions.”	stoicism
6,781	“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”	stoicism
7,259	“Part of patience is knowing your truth and staying loyal to it; you just can’t allow your face to betray what an attack on it actually makes you feel.”	stoicism

7,636

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

stoicism

7,563

“The fact that our minds are problem-solving machines says a lot about the nature of life.”

stoicism

7,289

“...but if you think that only which is your own to be your own, and if you think that what is another’s, as it really is, belongs to another, no man will ever compel you, no man will hinder you, you will never blame any man, you will accuse no man, you will do nothing involuntarily (against your will), no man will harm you, you will have no enemy, for you will not suffer any harm.”

stoicism

6,869

“Nothing great is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer you that it requires time: let it flower first, then put forth fruit, and then ripen. Is then the fruit of or a fig-tree not perfected suddenly and in one hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man's mind in so short a time and so easily? Do not expect it, even if I tell you”

stoicism

7,521

“We need not reply or even listen to people who are talking about—not to—us.”

stoicism

7,247

“You can look unhappy but feel the opposite. Or vice versa.”

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

7,067

“The present moment is the entirety of reality.”

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

7,103

“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”

stoicism

6,771

“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.”

stoicism

7,144

“He never exhibited rudeness, lost control of himself, or turned violent. No one ever saw him sweat. Everything was to be approached logically and with due consideration, in a calm and orderly fashion but decisively, and with no loose ends.”

stoicism

7,062

“Praying deceives us into thinking that we are doing something about what we are praying for.”

stoicism

7,606

“In conformity with this spirit and aim of the Stoa, Epictetus begins with it and constantly returns to it as the kernel of his philosophy, that we should bear in mind and distinguish what depends on us and what does not, and thus should not count on the latter at all. In this way we shall certainly remain free from all pain, suffering, and anxiety. Now what depends on us is the will alone, and here there gradually takes place a transition to a doctrine of virtue, since it is noticed that, as the external world that is independent of us determines good and bad fortune, so inner satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ourselves proceeds from the will. But later it was asked whether we should attribute the names *bonum et malum* to the two former or to the two latter. This was really arbitrary and a matter of choice, and made no difference. But yet the Stoics argued incessantly about this with the Peripatetics and Epicureans, and amused themselves with the inadmissible comparison of two wholly incommensurable quantities and with the contrary and paradoxical judgements arising therefrom, which they cast on one another. An interesting collection of these is afforded us from the Stoic side by the *Paradoxa* of Cicero." —from_The World as Will and Representation_. Translated from the German by E. F. J. Paye in two volumes: volume I, pp. 88-89”

stoicism

7,322

“[...] so läßt der, welcher der Lust nachjagt, alles andere liegen, und die Freiheit ist das erste, was er preisgibt [...]”

stoicism

7,087

“Unlearning makes learning at least three times longer than necessary.”

stoicism

7,271

“There was no meaning in why he was here, but he was, and that was enough.”

stoicism

7,597

“You should, I need hardly say, live in such a way that there is nothing which you could not as easily tell your enemy as keep to yourself.”

stoicism

7,150

“Funerals greatly exaggerate the pleasantness of being alive, while they prevent us from thinking about the advantages of being dead.”

stoicism

7,392

“Life is 99 percent attitude. Yet for the majority of people, it is the remaining one percent that dominates 99 percent of their life.”

stoicism

6,783

“Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha ? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates ? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus ? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus ? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster ? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze , more universal than Confucius ? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno ? Did he express grander truths than Cicero ? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza ’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler ’s or Newton ’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno ? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare , the greatest of the human race?”

stoicism

7,273

“Si len úbohá dušička nesúca mŕtvolu,” ako vravel Epiktetos.”

stoicism

7,000

“Will you never come to a realisation of who you are, what you have been born for and the purpose for which the gift of vision was made in our case?”

stoicism

6,853

“Employers pay with their money for what employees have paid for with portions of their lives.”

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

7,512

“It is a rare blessing to see things, and to accept people, as they are.”

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

6,914

“Birds weren’t given wings just to walk everywhere . . . and you weren’t born with resilience and a beautiful mind just to have an easy life.”

stoicism

7,660

“Even the least of our activities ought to have some end in view.”

stoicism

7,626

“And here 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, hat 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.”

stoicism

6,797

“Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness.”

stoicism

6,835

“The stoics divided philosophy into three branches: logic, physics, and ethics. Logic covered not only the rules of correct argumentation, but also grammar, linguistics, rhetorical theory, epistemology, and all the tools that might be needed to discover the truth of any matter. Physics was concerned with the nature of the world and the laws that govern it, and so included ontology and theology as well as what we would recognize as physics, astronomy, and cosmology. Ethics was concerned with how to achieve happiness, or how to live a fulfilled and flourishing life as a human being. A stoic sage was supposed to be fully expert in all three aspects.”

stoicism

6,932

“We should remember that even Nature's inadvertence has its own charm, its own attractiveness. Take the baking of bread. The loaf splits open here and there, and those very cracks, in one way a failure of the baker's profession, somehow catch the eye and give particular stimulus to our appetite.”

stoicism

6,998

“Even as the Sun doth not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so thou also wait not for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do thy duty; nay, do good of thine own accord, and thou wilt be loved like the Sun.”

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

7,218

“We all die having lived a full life, even those who die while they are being born.”

stoicism

7,193

“Our caring about what others think about us is one of the pillars of the economy.”

stoicism

7,229

“Pleasure is often felt through the tongue or genitals as an attempt to distract oneself from the pain one is feeling through the heart.”

stoicism

7,445

“Destroying the seeds of disappointment requires you to unexpect the expected.”

stoicism

7,070

“If one accomplishes some good though with toil, the toil passes, but the good remains; if one does something dishonourable with pleasure, the pleasure passes, but the dishonour remains.”

stoicism

7,072

“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will — then your life will flow well.”

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

7,164

“If you care about yourself at all, come to your own aid while there’s still time.”

stoicism

6,779

“Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control.”

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

7,399

“That you are about to bury or have just buried your loved one does not make you and your loved ones immortal for a while.”

stoicism

7,039

“At the heart of stoicism lay the desire to disappoint oneself before someone else had the chance to do so. Stoicism was a crude defense against the dangers of the affections of others, dangers that would take more endurance than a life in the desert to be able to face.”

stoicism

7,361

“Love, unless it is for life as a whole, is contaminated by things such as our preferences and memories.”

stoicism

7,374

“And if you want to know why all this running away cannot help you, the answer is simply this: you are running away in your own company.”

stoicism

7,547

“Life is yet to produce someone who is loved by or important to everyone.”

stoicism

7,613

“Sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy.”

stoicism

7,631

“Emilio was certainly within his rights not to reveal the sordid details of his childhood even to his friends. Or perhaps especially to his friends, whose good opinion of him, he might feel, would not survive the revelations.”

stoicism

7,130

“The best kind of pleasure comes from the indifference to pain … and pleasure.”

stoicism

7,026

“At any moment we may be toppled from our perch and made to do with less—less money, less recognition, less access, less resources. Even the “less-es” that come with age: less mobility, less energy, less freedom. But we can prepare for that, in some way, by familiarizing ourselves with what that might feel like.”

stoicism

6,902

“True focus is the ability to summon our mental strength when it is required and to let it rest when it is not.”

stoicism

7,045

“If ever you want to find out whether anything has been achieved, observe whether your intentions are the same today as they were yesterday. A change of intention shows that the mind is at sea, drifting here and there as carried by the wind.”

stoicism

7,545

“It is impossible to trip and fall while walking slowly.”

stoicism

7,452

“We often do not, not because we cannot, but because we think so.”

stoicism

7,282

“Appreciating what you have is the best cure for missing what you have lost.”

stoicism

7,082

“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”

stoicism

7,345

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

stoicism

7,655

“The boon that could be given can be withdrawn.”

stoicism

7,053

“The first sign of a settled mind is that it can stay in one place and spend time with itself.” – Seneca, Letter 2.1”

stoicism

6,890

“At its core, Stoicism, like the sturdy oak tree, stands firm amidst the torrential downpour of life’s distractions. It teaches us that while we may not command the winds to change, we possess the power to adjust our sails, to guide our minds through the tumultuous sea of life’s happenings.”

stoicism

6,876

“All roads to Hades are of equal length”

stoicism

7,456

“It's with a heavy heart that I assure you that regardless of how lasting your fortune feels, it can be taken from you before you can even think to try to hold on.”

stoicism

6,973

“The most terrifying ghosts that haunt us are the ones of our dead dreams, especially if we were the murderers.”

stoicism

6,934

“The afternoon presents an intersection where the momentum that we have gained in the morning may be either sustained or lost – where we can choose to either build on the morning’s foundations and embrace our challenges, or allow the stress and frustration of the day to ruin all our hard work.”

stoicism

7,074

“Most adults make adulthood seem like a disease that is caused by a deficiency of playfulness.”

stoicism

7,266

“Halleck came from people who regarded a slight change of facial expression as adequate to convey the pain of a severed limb.”

stoicism

7,401

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

stoicism

7,325

“Giving in to sleep is a great opportunity to practice letting go of life.”

stoicism

7,593

“[I]ndulge the body just so far as suffices for good health. It needs to be treated somewhat strictly to prevent it from being disobedient to the spirit. Your food should appease your hunger, your drink quench your thirst, your clothing keep out the cold, your house be a protection against inclement weather.”

stoicism

6,925

“Perchance some day the memory of this sorrow Will even bring delight”

stoicism

7,136

“It is foolish to expect a fool to act wisely.”

stoicism

7,488

“I value my time so much that undressing is the only thing I am willing to do for sex.”

stoicism

7,671

“Confronting the worst-case scenario saps it of much of its anxiety-inducing power. Happiness reached via positive thinking can be fleeting and brittle, negative visualization generates a vastly more dependable calm.”

stoicism

7,389

“How was your day?’ ought to be ‘How did you look at your day?”

stoicism

7,020

“To act wise isn’t to act wisely.”

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

7,103

“But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions.”

stoicism

7,411

“All vices are at odds with nature.”

stoicism

7,280

“The problem with pleasure is that it needs to be intermittent in order to retain its pleasantness.”

stoicism

7,062

“Praying deceives us into thinking that we are doing something about what we are praying for.”

stoicism

6,789

“Regard [a friend] as loyal, and you will make him loyal.”

stoicism

7,051

“Most people frequently waste their life, mostly in front of a screen.”

stoicism

7,566

“Life is a game we are all bound to lose.”

stoicism

6,770

“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”

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

6,804

“From the philosopher Catulus, never to be dismissive of a friend's accusation, even if it seems unreasonable, but to make every effort to restore the relationship to its normal condition.”

stoicism

6,967

“[A] man ought to be prepared in a manner for this also, to be able to be sufficient for himself and to be his own companion. [...] [S]o ought we also to be able to talk with ourselves, not to feel the want of others also, not to be unprovided with the means of passing our time; to observe the divine administration and the relation of ourselves to everything else; to consider how we formerly were affected toward things that happen and how at present; what are still the things which give us pain; how these also can be cured and how removed; if any things require improvement, to improve them according to reason.”

stoicism

7,254

“Remind yourself that what you love is mortal … at the very moment you are taking joy in something, present yourself with the opposite impressions. What harm is it, just when you are kissing your little child, to say: Tomorrow you will die, or to your friend similarly: Tomorrow one of us will go away, and we shall not see one another any more?”

stoicism

7,526

“The happiest people are not those who have the most, but those who are the most grateful for what they have.”

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

7,606

“In conformity with this spirit and aim of the Stoa, Epictetus begins with it and constantly returns to it as the kernel of his philosophy, that we should bear in mind and distinguish what depends on us and what does not, and thus should not count on the latter at all. In this way we shall certainly remain free from all pain, suffering, and anxiety. Now what depends on us is the will alone, and here there gradually takes place a transition to a doctrine of virtue, since it is noticed that, as the external world that is independent of us determines good and bad fortune, so inner satisfaction or dissatisfaction with ourselves proceeds from the will. But later it was asked whether we should attribute the names *bonum et malum* to the two former or to the two latter. This was really arbitrary and a matter of choice, and made no difference. But yet the Stoics argued incessantly about this with the Peripatetics and Epicureans, and amused themselves with the inadmissible comparison of two wholly incommensurable quantities and with the contrary and paradoxical judgements arising therefrom, which they cast on one another. An interesting collection of these is afforded us from the Stoic side by the *Paradoxa* of Cicero." —from_The World as Will and Representation_. Translated from the German by E. F. J. Paye in two volumes: volume I, pp. 88-89”

stoicism

6,930

“He is a slave.'' But shall that stand in his way? Show me a man who is not a slave; one is a slave to lust, another to greed, another to ambition, and all men are slaves to fear.”

stoicism

7,460

“A man is as unhappy as he has convinced himself he is.”

stoicism

6,975

“The most beautiful things come from the hardest conditions.”

stoicism

6,781

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”

stoicism

7,259

“Part of patience is knowing your truth and staying loyal to it; you just can’t allow your face to betray what an attack on it actually makes you feel.”

stoicism