5 Stoic Ideas for a Good Life
including Quotes to Live By
1. Dichotomy of Control
The dichotomy of control is about ‘controlling the controllables’.
Control what you can and leave the rest. Never give your ‘freedom to choose’ to anyone else.
“We cannot control the external events around us, but we can control our reactions to them.”
— Epictetus
Here’s one from Victor Frankl,
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing . . . to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
— Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
2. Rule of Life
Make it your life’s goal to ‘search for truth’.
“Seek ye first the good things of the mind,” Bacon admonishes us, “and the rest will either be supplied or its loss will not be felt.”
“Truth will not make us rich, but it will make us free.”
— Will Durant
3. Facing Anxiety
Don’t suffer from ‘Imagined Troubles’.
The one who suffers before it is necessary suffers twice.
Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
this one is from Seneca,
We suffer more in imagination than in reality
— Seneca
4. How to face Obstacles
According to the stoics, our obstacles give us the opportunity to practice the 4 stoic virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance or moderation, and justice in our daily lives.
Stoic believe in living a life in accordance with nature.
The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way becomes the way.
— Marcus Aurelius
5. On Revenge
Give up the feeling of revenge because you’re going to inflict more pain to yourself.
The best form of revenge is to not be like them.
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injustice.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Conclusion
The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve ‘Eudaimonia’: a well-lived life.
The Stoic principles include living according to nature, controlling your perspective, managing expectations, negative visualization, re-framing, acceptance, and contemplating death.
By living according to these principles, you will stress less about things that don’t matter and live your life to the fullest.
