Stoicism, quotations from Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca

[MrXephyr]

You can lead a virtuous life but a turtle could still fall on your head.

[07Aristotle]

Oh, you noble Stoics, what fraud of words!--Friedrich Nietzsche

[ValorOfOne]

Marcus 3rd. beautiful.

[TheKenTerry]

Can you please give me some book titles? I would love to learn more about Stoicism.

[tanit]

@TheKenTerry Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life, Musonius Rufus and Education in the Good Life: A Model of Teaching and Living Virtue, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

[aslanright]

buddhism may be give inspiration to stoic philosophrer

[doctorw2]

this is a lot like buddhism.

[Bremerxxxx]

My favorite quote by Epictetus:

“Signs of someone who is progressing:

He blames no one,

He praises no one,

He complains of no one,

He accuses no one,

He never speaks of himself

As of someone important

Or who knows something.”

[zcaramouche]

@ ilikeyouallot ->" Because your own strength is unequal to the task, do not assume that it is beyond the powers of man."

We do you think humanity should be in 5000 years...

"Everything is fruit to me which your seasons bring o nature."

[zcaramouche]

Very well done! Thank you !

Stoicism with a pinch of Epicurus is the way...

VIVAT and greetings from Frankfurt/Germany ! :)

[ilikeyouallot]

i take your money away, then i take your woman away, then i follow you and make it harder like the system does, stoicism? and i lie to you. i cheat on you, i disocialize you from you beloved ones, i instigate on you and more . now what?

[On3Thought]

are you yourself a stoic?

[tanit]

@On3Thought Indeed I am, practicing for over 6 years. 

[theanduo]

thanks for getting these quotes, but I think it would have been even better with the quotes running on the screen

[MPArmstrong84]

The techings of Siddhārtha Gautama and the stoics are very similar. And are equally difficult to follow.

[tanit]

@MPArmstrong84 Why are they difficult to follow? What's more difficult is living in pursuit of desire, an endless spiral that never ends.

[TigerJohny555]

@tanit But you can also pursuit desires with understanding that it is out of your control if these desires (money, fame, health, etc.) can be attained. A virtuous individual may desire things but if they are unattainable he will be ok with that

and if attainable he can enjoy them without guilt.

[TigerJohny555]

@tanit But you can also pursuit desires with understanding that it is out of your control if these desires (money, fame, health, etc.) can be attained.  A virtuous individual may desire things but if they are unattainable he will be ok with that

and if attainable he can enjoy them without guilt.

[fntime]

@MPArmstrong84 you are correct, but totally

different from mankinds current beliefs.

[fntime]

@MPArmstrong84 I was thinking the same thing.

Very Zen!

[qaplatlhinganmaH]

Thomas Jefferson's letter to William Short

"As you say of yourself, I TOO AM AN EPICUREAN. I consider the genuine doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us. Epictetus, indeed, has given us what was good of the Stoics" Thomas Jefferson

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." Thomas Jefferson

[qaplatlhinganmaH]

Greco-Buddhism, sometimes spelt Graeco-Buddhism, refers to the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE

[TigerJohny555]

Does stoicism teach that all things that happen will happen regardless of what we do and everything already has been decided in advance by fate so we kind of just 'go with the flow' through life without control except our opionion of things?

[tanit]

One of the core tenets of Stoicism is that we are in control of our actions, opinions and decisions and powerless to control fortune, and the actions and habits of others. There is no "fate" as I think you mean, but a Stoic would say that things happen, whether we want them to or not, and how we respond to them is what determines our quality. In this sense we are may be powerless to change our destiny, as we may be subjected to a circumstance out of our control.

[TigerJohny555]

ok, thanks.

[Roelandvinken]

i keep hearing Lao Tseh in the Stoics

[Kamachar666]

I don't mind Stoicism. It certainly doesn't deny that sh!t happens to good people, but it does say that sh!t happens to good people for a reason, and that reason may be to teach a lesson. The problem I have with this is that while this may work for adults, what about children or even babies that are tortured, raped and murdered? What has Providence to teach an abused, dead child? Perhaps my understanding of Stoicism isn't correct?

[tanit]

The Stoic doctrine on events is more complicated than that. Broadly, the idea is that since everything is part of nature (i.e. the Logos) nothing unnatural can happen, nothing should not happen. Things occur, and it is a matter of opinion to become upset by them, or to endure them with dignity. The things occurring are brought on the winds of the caprice of Fortune, and is not blamable, evil, or good, it just happens. The things which just happen are interpreted by our opinion.

[Kamachar666]

But doesn't Seneca in De Providentia correct Lucilius by saying that what looks like adversity is in fact a means by which one exerts his virtues and is made stronger in the process? Thereby saying that sh!t happens to improve ourselves if only we let it.

But a dead child cannot be improved, nor endure murder with dignity. Therefore sh!t happens to good people (or innocent children) for no reason whatsoever.

[tanit]

Its not a matter of reason; Seneca doesn't mean that bad things happen JUST for the sake of improving our character and virtue, its a rhetorical way of saying that in every misfortune there is an opportunity for gleaming brightly instead of being destroyed. I think Seneca is not really talking about causality, but ethics.

[Kamachar666]

Hmmm... I didn't mean to infer that Seneca is talking about causality, but reading my previous comment it does look that way...

I'll try a little harder to explain what I mean.

Seneca wants us to try to look for a silver lining for every cloud, which is a fine sentiment it's true.

Marcus Aurelius has also written: "Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear."

But I say I doubt a raped and murdered child would agree to that. In reality some clouds are too damn dark.

[tanit]

What Marcus means is that if Nature intended for you not to be able to endure something, it would destroy you. It is a logical protest against whining and mediocrity, i.e. we would simply not be alive if we were not meant to bear it. Stoicism is about realizing what is endurable, what is in our control, and what is outside of our control, what is not endurable, and perhaps more importantly, refining our character so that we make the most out of what is within our control.

[Kamachar666]

Ahhh! I get it now. Thanks!

[TobiramaSenju]

Stoicism is very easy to preach.But its very tough to practice.

[dtstrain]

Thank you for this bit of Stoicism. We need more of it :|

[knopflerdire]

beter than god based religons

[tanit]

Many stoics believed in a supreme intelligence known as the Logos, also sometimes referred to as God or Zeus. While the Stoics did not fixate on God, most of them believed in some divine logic to the universe.

[dtstrain]

Excellent :)

[BroCaban]

Once again, Tanit has smoked his readings.

[luisfcayo]

This type of philosophy was killed by Justinian and his new faith... I realized that this philosophy still applies to today's problems.