If good advice stands the test of time then you don’t get much better than advice from the stoic philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome.
It fills me with awe to think that the reflections of these ancient people including Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of Rome between 161 to 181BC, are still relevant today.
Enjoy the quotes below from Marcus Aurelias, Seneca, Epicurus, Epictetus and Heraclitus on motivation, values, productivity and mindfulness. Which of these will you reflect on today?
1. “The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”
Marcus Aurelius
2. “Whatever can happen any time can happen today.”
Seneca
3. “The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live.”
Epicurus
4. “While we wait for life, life passes”
Seneca
5. “You have power over your mind – not external events. Realize this and you will have strength.
Marcus Aurelius
6. “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
Marcus Aurelius
7. “If what you have seems insufficient to you, then though you possess the world, you will yet be miserable.”
Seneca
8. “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
Marcus Aurelius
9. “Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.”
Seneca
10. “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Epictetus
11. “How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?”
Seneca
12. “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?“
Epictetus
13. “Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.”
Marcus Aurelius
14. “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
Seneca
15. “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
Marcus Aurelius
16. “If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favorable.”
Seneca
17. “To be even minded is the greatest virtue.”
Heraclitus
18. “Learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”
Marcus Aurelius
19. “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”
Seneca
20. “We should not, like sheep, follow the herd of creatures in front of us, making our way where others go, not where we ought to go.”
Seneca
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