Stoicism Flashcards
eudaimonia
the state or condition of ‘good spirit’; happiness; welfare
eudaimon life is a life which is objectively desirable, and means living well
Aristotle
(1) life of pleasure, (2) a life of political activity, and (3) a philosophical life.
Aristotle’s examples of a eudaimon life
the eudaimon life is one of “virtuous activity in accordance with reason”
Aristotle
the eudaimon life is the life of pleasure, maintains that the life of pleasure coincides with the life of virtue
Epicurus
eudaimonia means ‘doing and living well
Aristotle
This state of the soul, moral virtue, is the most important good.
Socrates
The health of the soul is incomparably more important for eudaimonia than (e.g.) wealth and political power. Someone with a virtuous soul is better off than someone who is wealthy and honored but whose soul is corrupted by unjust actions.
Socrates
Life is not worth living if the soul is ruined by wrongdoing.
Socrates
Justice (being just) hinders or prevents the achievement of eudaimonia because conventional morality requires that we control ourselves and hence live with un-satiated desires.
Plato
hedonism
the view that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and that pain is the only intrinsic bad.
Virtuous activity is not pursued for the sake of pleasure. Pleasure is a byproduct of virtuous action.
Aristotle
One should not literally aim for eudaimonia. Rather, eudaimonia is what we achieve (assuming that we aren’t particularly unfortunate in the possession of external goods) when we live according to the requirements of reason.
Aristotle
Il faut cultiver notre jardin
(One Must Cultivate One’s Own Garden)
meaning we must tend to our own affairs
The world is nothing in itself. Your mind must give it meaning. And what you behold upon it are your wishes. There is no world apart from what you wish.
And what we hold in our minds translates into what we experience in the world. The world is nothing more than the result of a choice in our minds.
Voltaire in Candide
Il faut cultiver notre jardin
(One Must Cultivate One’s Own Garden)
Thus it is with our thoughts that we must work. That is what Voltaire meant by cultivating our garden. And like Candide, we can move beyond the blind faith of an outside world affecting us to the wondrous realization that the source of all happiness comes from within.
Voltaire in Candide
- “Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones.” ― Seneca
- “Man is affected not by events but by the view he takes of them.” ― Seneca
- “How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?” ― Seneca
- “The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca
- “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” ― Seneca
- “Time heals what reason cannot.” ― Seneca
Seneca Quotes on Reflection - “Every night before going to sleep, we must ask ourselves: what weakness did I overcome today? What virtue did I acquire?” — Seneca
- “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” ― Seneca
- “It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much… The life we receive is not short but we make it so.” ― Seneca
Related Between the World and Me Quotes From Ta-Nehisi’s Iconic Book - “Remember that pain has this most excellent quality. If prolonged it cannot be severe, and if severe it cannot be prolonged.” ― Seneca
Also check out these Thomas Paine quotes and sayings that will make you question your philosophy.
Seneca Quotes on Life
- “Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.” — Seneca
- “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” — Seneca
- “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” ― Seneca
- “Life is like a play: it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters..” ― Seneca
- “While we wait for life, life passes.” ― Seneca
- “We are always complaining that our days are few, and acting as though there would be no end of them.” ― Seneca
- “Let us say what we feel, and feel what we say; let speech harmonize with life.” ― Seneca
- “Life, if well lived, is long enough.” ― Seneca
Seneca Quotes on Leadership - “Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack.” — Seneca
- “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” ― Seneca
- “Associate with people who are likely to improve you.” ― Seneca
- “To wish to progress is the largest part of progress.” ― Seneca
- “Besides, he who is feared, fears also; no one has been able to arouse terror and live in peace of mind.” ― Seneca
- “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” ― Seneca
Check out these powerful Alexander the Great quotes from one of the greatest leaders in history.
Seneca Quotes on Perseverance
- “Things that were hard to bear are sweet to remember.” ― Seneca
- “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” ― Seneca
- “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” ― Seneca
- “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” — Seneca
Related Good Vibe Quotes About Being More Positive - “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.” ― Seneca
- “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” ― Seneca
- “So you must match time’s swiftness with your speed in using it, and you must drink quickly as though from a rapid stream that will not always flow.” ― Seneca
- “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” ― Seneca
- “The good things of prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.” ― Seneca
Seneca Quotes on Judgement - “Every guilty person is his own hangman.” ― Seneca
- “All cruelty springs from weakness.” — Seneca
- “Once again prosperous and successful crime goes by the name of virtue; good men obey the bad, might is right and fear oppresses law.” ― Seneca
- “A good judge condemns wrongful acts, but does not hate them.” ― Seneca
Seneca Quotes on Relationships - “I am not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land.” ― Seneca
- “Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.” ― Seneca
Seneca
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so, wants nothing.
Seneca
We suffer more in imagination than in reality.
Seneca
Love in its essence is spiritual fire.
Seneca
They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn.
Seneca
Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We’ve been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.
Seneca
No man was ever wise by chance.
Seneca
If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.
Seneca
He who is brave is free.
Seneca
Silence is a lesson learned through life’s many sufferings.
Seneca
There is nothing more despicable than an old man who has no other proof than his age to offer of his having lived long in the world.
Seneca
Hang on to your youthful enthusiasms — you’ll be able to use them better when you’re older.
Seneca
Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.
Seneca
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Seneca
Remember, however, before all else, to strip things of all that disturbs and confuses, and to see what each is at the bottom; you will then comprehend that they contain nothing fearful except the actual fear.
Seneca
Worse than war is the very fear of war.
Seneca
You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire.
Seneca
A person’s fears are lighter when the danger is at hand.
Seneca
Friendship is always helpful, but love sometimes even does harm.
Seneca
It is another’s fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so.
Seneca
One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
Seneca
Regard a friend as loyal, and you will make him loyal.
Seneca
