The three Stoics on this site

Three very different lives: an emperor, a statesman and a man born into slavery. All three wrote about how to stay steady when life is not.

Marcus Aurelius

Roman emperor, 121–180 AD

Emperor of Rome for nearly two decades, much of it spent on military campaigns and through plague. His private notebook, usually called Meditations, was written to himself and never meant to be published. That is why it is so frank.

What we quote: Meditations, in George Long’s 1862 translation.

Read it free on Project Gutenberg

Seneca

Roman statesman and writer, c. 4 BC–65 AD

A senator, advisor to the emperor Nero, playwright and one of the richest men in Rome. He wrote essays and a long run of letters to his friend Lucilius on fear, grief, time, anger and friendship. His tone is warm and often funny.

What we quote: Moral Letters to Lucilius (Richard Gummere, 1917) and the Dialogues, including On Anger and the consolations (Aubrey Stewart, 1900).

Letters on Wikisource · Dialogues on Project Gutenberg

Epictetus

Teacher, c. 50–c. 135 AD

Born into slavery in Phrygia, he gained his freedom and became one of the most influential teachers of his age. He wrote nothing himself. His student Arrian recorded his lectures and a short handbook, the Enchiridion. He taught that you are free to the degree that you control your own judgments.

What we quote: The Enchiridion (George Long) and the Golden Sayings (Hastings Crossley, 1903).

Long on Project Gutenberg · Golden Sayings

What is Stoicism, in one paragraph?

Stoicism is an ancient Greek and Roman philosophy about living well. Its central idea is that some things are up to us (our judgments, choices and effort) and some are not (other people, outcomes, the past), and that peace comes from putting our effort where it counts. The Stoics did not tell people to stop feeling. They tried to help people feel without being run by it.