Stoic Quotes Flashcards

1
Q

What should you focus on?

A

Focus on what you can control.

If it is up to me give it 100% if it isn’t give it 0
Focus on what we control because that is where we can give 100% of our effort and emotion to make a difference

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2
Q

What can you control?

A

You control how you respond to things.

Epictetus - we don’t control what happens but we control how we respond -
Mindset of this has happened now what am I going to do to move forward with it
You control how you respond to everything

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3
Q

What should we ask ourselves?

A

Ask yourself, “Is this essential?”

Marcus Aurelius
Do I need to do it? (e.g. is this working towards my potential or chief aim?)
If YES then give it everything you have if NO then eliminate it
Become good at the essential

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4
Q

We should we meditate on?

A

Meditate on your mortality every day.

Marcus Aurelius - you could leave life right now
Life is short don’t focus on things that don’t matter
Clear sense of mortality is essential to appreciate life

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5
Q

What should we value most?

A

Value time more than money/possessions.

Seneca - says the time that passes belongs to death
Time is the most valuable commodity
You cannot get more time
You purchase things with your life

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6
Q

What are we a product of?

A

You are the product of your habits.

Epictetus - if you want to be beautiful make beautiful choices, if you want to be excellent make excellent choices
Excellence is a habit not an act
Aristotle - we are what we repeatedly do

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7
Q

What do we have the power over?

A

Remember you have the power to have no opinion.

Epictetus - it is not things that upset us but our opinion about things and we control our opinions
Sometimes things just are there is no need to pass opinion on it
Withdraw judgements from them

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8
Q

What should we own?

A

Own the morning.

Marcus Aurelius’ - was I meant to stay under the covers and keep warm?
Well begun is half done
A good morning leads to good day and good days leads to a good life

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9
Q

What should we do to ourselves to better ourselves?

A

Put yourself up for review (Interrogate yourself).

Seneca - put the day up for review
What could I have done better? Where did I fall short?
Interrogate yourself

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10
Q

What should we do to avoid suffering?

A

Don’t suffer imagined troubles.

Seneca - we suffer more in imagination than reality
Worry doesn’t effect anything deal with things when they come
Focus on what is in front of you
Don’t anticipate and suffer in advance

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11
Q

What should we see in people?

A

Try to see the good in people.

Marcus Aurelius tried to get the most out of people and tried to see the best in people
See the good in things
Find something good in everyone you deal with
Otherwise you will be miserable and unhappy

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12
Q

Never be heard what?

A

Never be overheard complaining…even to yourself.

Complaints are for losers
Focus on the good
NEVER complain

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13
Q

Two ears…?

A

Two ears, one mouth…for a reason (Zeno)

Zeno - two ears one mouth…listen more than you talk

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14
Q

There is always?

A

There is always something you can do.

There is always some way to move forward
Even if you can make something marginally better think of the step forward

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15
Q

Don’t what…?

A

Don’t compare yourself to others.

Roosevelt - comparison is the thief of joy
Hold yourself to your own standards

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16
Q

Live as if…?

A

Live as if you’ve died and come back (every minute is bonus time).

Seneca - my life is over hopefully I get a new one tomorrow

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17
Q

Should we seek revenge?

A

“The best revenge is not to be like that.” Marcus Aurelius

Prove you are a good person by being the exact opposite of the bad person and never stoop to their levels
Best way to beat a cheater is not be like one

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18
Q

Who should we be strict with?

A

Be strict with yourself and tolerant with others.

Cato - I can forgive any error but my own
Self-discipline is key

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19
Q

What should we put to the test?

A

Put every impression, emotion, to the test before acting on it.

Initial reactions, pause, then choose who you want to be

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20
Q

What should we strive to do with everyone?

A

Learn something from everyone.

Everyone I meet is better than me at something and I want to learn that something
Focus on what you can learn even from people you don’t like
And you can learn from peoples failures (if they are not better than you)

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21
Q

We should focus on…

A

Focus on process, not outcomes.

Outcomes not in our control process is
Focus on what is in front of you
Success is internal everything else is irrelevant

22
Q

How should we define…?

A

Define what success means to you.

Success should be giving your best, having an impact, really pushing yourself
Opinions of other is irrelevant
Aurelius - for some reason we care about other opinions more than our own
Success is what It means to you

23
Q

What should do with everything?

A

Find a way to love everything that happens (Amor fati).

Amor Fati
This isn’t something I have to do this is something I get to do
This hasn’t happened to me it has happened for me
Aurelius - everything you throw on the fire becomes fuel for the fire
That is what destiny had in mind so use it for your benefit

24
Q

What should we seek?

A

Seek out challenges.

Do one thing everyday that scares you
We become better when we struggle
Tackle hard things

25
Q

Who should we not follow?

A

Don’t follow the mob.

Don’t be like everyone else
Think for yourself
Mark Twain - whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority pause and reflect
Decide for yourself not just what the peer pressure is making you want to say
Think INDEPENDENT

26
Q

What handle should we grab?

A

Grab the “smooth handle.”

Every situation has two handles grab the one that makes you better
Two handles - one empowers you one doesn’t

27
Q

What is every person?

A

Every person is an opportunity for kindness (Seneca)

Seneca - every situation is an opportunity for kindness
Never pass up an opportunity to be kind or caring or compassionate

28
Q

What should we say a lot?

A

Say no (a lot).

Everything you say yes means you are saying no something else
Say no so you can say yes to the things that matter most

29
Q

What should we not be afraid of?

A

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Asking for help isn’t giving up it is actually refusing to give up
Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable

30
Q

What should we find each day?

A

Find one thing that makes you wiser every day.

Find one thing every day that improves you = wisdom

31
Q

Whats bad for the…?

A

What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee (Marcus Aurelius)

What is bad for the hive is bad for the bee
What would the world look like if everyone done this? If bad, then avoid it…
What is good for all of us is good for each of us

32
Q

Don’t judge…?

A

Don’t judge other people.

Be tolerant with others but strict with yourself
Solve your flaws but not other peoples
Leave other people to their own mistakes
You do not know their struggle

33
Q

Study the lives…?

A

Study the lives of the greats.

Focus on people who make you better
AMAZING - We can learn easily what they learned with great difficulty
We do not learn from trial and error it has already been done for us

34
Q

What is the greatest give to ourselves?

A

Forgive, forgive, forgive.

Forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself
Holding on to grudges make you miserable

35
Q

What should we do each day?

A

Make a little progress each day.

Be 1% better each day
A little bit of progress every day adds up

36
Q

What should we do in the morning and evening? Why?

A

Journal.

Sit down with a journal every morning and have a conversation with yourself
Evening journal put the day up for review
Dump on your journal not people

37
Q

What should we prepare for?

A

Prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks (premeditatio malorum)

The unforeseen blow lands heaviest
Think unpleasant thoughts so you are pleasantly surprised when they don’t happen rather than unpleasantly surprised when they do
Only unacceptable excuse is thinking I did not think that could happen

38
Q

What kind of eye should we have?

A

Look for the poetry in ordinary things.

Find beauty and poetry in the mundane
“the way bread cracks open in the oven”
Focus on finding beauty and see with the poets eye

39
Q

What is to do wrong?

A

To do wrong to one, is to do wrong to yourself. (sympatheia)

We are all brothers

40
Q

What should we always choose?

A

Always choose “Alive Time.”

Alive time and dead time, what you going to choose?
Use every moment

41
Q

Who should we associate with?

A

Associate only with people that make you better.

We are a reflection of our surroundings
Seek out people that make you better
Associate with people that make you better
You cant change your friends but you can change your friends

42
Q

If someone offends you…?

A

If someone offends you, realize you are complicit in taking offense.

When we are offended we are complicit in response
They said it but you DECIDE to feel offended
Decide not to feel harmed

43
Q

Fate behaves…?

A

Fate behaves as she pleases…do not forget this.

Be ready for everything that happens

44
Q

What is ours only in trust?

A

Possessions are yours only in trust.

We possess nothing in life
All time is limited

45
Q

How do we make problems worse?

A

Don’t make your problems worse by bemoaning them.

I am not a hindrance to myself
It poisons the room
It is a cancer to the mind

46
Q

Accept succes with?

A

Accept success without arrogance, handle failure with indifference.

What goes up comes down
Accept good things when they are there and accept the bad things when they are there
Gracious in defeat and victory

47
Q

Courage…?

A

Courage. Temperance. Justice. Wisdom. (Always).

4 pillars or virtues of stoicism

48
Q

What is the way?

A

The obstacle is the way.

No problem so bad you can’t learn from
Where is the opportunity inside the obstacle

49
Q

What is the enemy =?

A

Ego is the enemy.

Arrogance makes things worse
Ego never makes things better
Always be humble
Believe in yourself because there is evidence

50
Q

What is key?

A

Stillness is the key.

Slow down and see things clearly
We are the rock that the waves crash into but eventually the sea settles
Can you see things clearly without bias?

51
Q

What should you stop aruguing about?

A

Stop arguing what a good man should be and be one

Don’t talk about your stoicism