Stoic Quotes, Interpreted and Explained

Where Stoic quotes come from

Almost all of the Stoic writing that survives comes from the Roman period, the first and second centuries AD. The founders of the school, Zeno, Cleanthes and Chrysippus, wrote hundreds of books, nearly all lost. We know them through fragments and reports by later writers.

The three main sources of quotes are:

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Twelve books of private notes written in Greek by the Roman emperor, probably in the 170s AD, during military campaigns. They were not meant for publication, which is why they are so direct and so repetitive. Numbered by book and section, for example 4.3.

Seneca, letters and essays. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman statesman, playwright and philosopher, wrote 124 surviving Moral Letters to Lucilius and a series of essays including On the Shortness of Life, On Anger and On the Happy Life. Written in Latin, carefully crafted, full of quotable lines.

Epictetus, Discourses and Enchiridion. Epictetus wrote nothing. His student Arrian recorded his lectures in the Discourses and condensed them into the Enchiridion, or Handbook. Written in everyday Greek, often blunt and funny.

The translation problem

The same sentence can look very different depending on the translation. Compare two versions of a line from Marcus Aurelius, Book 5.20. George Long, writing in the nineteenth century, renders the end of it as: “that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.” A widely read modern translation turns the same thought into something much shorter and more memorable, which has become one of the most quoted lines in modern Stoicism.

Neither is wrong. Long is closer to the structure of the Greek. The modern version is closer to how we speak. But it means that when you see a quote, you are often seeing a translator’s choices as much as the original author’s. On this site we quote public domain translations, mainly George Long for Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus and Richard Gummere for Seneca’s letters, and we paraphrase where their nineteenth and early twentieth century English gets in the way.

Why context matters

A quote is a fragment of something larger, and the larger thing often changes its meaning.

• Private notes. Much of the Meditations is Marcus talking to himself, often in a bad moment. A harsh line about other people may be a note to calm his own irritation, not a general view of humanity.
• Letters to a person. Seneca’s letters are addressed to Lucilius, a real friend at a particular stage of life. Advice that sounds absolute is sometimes tailored to him.
• Steps in an argument. Epictetus often states a provocative claim and then spends a page qualifying it. Quoted alone, the provocation looks like the conclusion.
• Ancient assumptions. Some lines depend on beliefs most modern readers do not share, such as a providential universe. They can still be useful, but it helps to know what they assumed.

Misattributed quotes

Several of the most shared “Stoic” quotes are not by the Stoics, or not by the person named.

• “Between stimulus and response there is a space.” Usually credited to Viktor Frankl, not found in his writings. Close to Stoic thought, but not from a Stoic. See the gap between stimulus and response.
• “Memento mori” whispered to Roman generals. The phrase is not attested in that form in ancient sources. See memento mori.
• “Amor fati.” A genuine phrase, but Nietzsche’s, not the Stoics’. See amor fati.

We collect more of these in Stoic quotes the Stoics never said.

How to use quotes well

A quote is most useful when it is the short form of an argument you already understand. “Of things some are in our power, and others are not” is helpful if you know what Epictetus meant by “in our power”, and misleading if you do not. A few suggestions:

• Learn the context of the quotes you use most. Read the whole section, not just the line.
• Prefer understanding to collecting. Five quotes you understand are worth more than a hundred you have saved.
• Use quotes as prompts, not proofs. A Stoic saying does not settle a question. It reminds you of a way of thinking about it.
• Check attribution before sharing. The internet is full of confident misattributions.