"The best livelihood (particularly for the strong) is earning a living from the soil, whether you own your land or not. Many can support their families by farming land owned by the state or private landowners. Some even get rich through hard work with their own hands. The earth repays those who cultivate her, both justly and well, multiplying what she received—endowing in abundance all the necessities of life to anyone willing to work— and all this without violating your dignity or self-respect!" —Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus On How To Live

"As fire tests gold, so misfortunate tests brave men." —Seneca

"Imagine that the keeper of a huge, strong beast notices what makes it angry, what it desires, how it has to be approached and handled, the circumstances and the conditions under which it becomes particularly fierce or calm, what provokes its typical cries, and what tones of voice make it gentle or wild. Once he’s spent enough time in the creature’s company to acquire all this information, he calls it knowledge, forms it into a systematic branch of expertise, and starts to teach it, despite total ignorance, in fact, about which of the creature’s attitudes and desires is commendable or deplorable, good, or bad, moral or immoral. His usage of all these terms simply conforms to the great beast’s attitudes, and he describes things as good or bad according to its likes and dislikes, and can’t justify his usage of the terms any further, but describes as right and good the things which are merely indispensable, since he hasn’t realized and can’t explain to anyone else how vast a gulf there is between necessity and goodness." —Plato, The Republic

"He who fears death will never do anything worth of a man who is alive." —Seneca

"Imagine that the keeper of a huge, strong beast notices what makes it angry, what it desires, how it has to be approached and handled, the circumstances and the conditions under which it becomes particularly fierce or calm, what provokes its typical cries, and what tones of voice make it gentle or wild. Once he’s spent enough time in the creature’s company to acquire all this information, he calls it knowledge, forms it into a systematic branch of expertise, and starts to teach it, despite total ignorance, in fact, about which of the creature’s attitudes and desires is commendable or deplorable, good, or bad, moral or immoral. His usage of all these terms simply conforms to the great beast’s attitudes, and he describes things as good or bad according to its likes and dislikes, and can’t justify his usage of the terms any further, but describes as right and good the things which are merely indispensable, since he hasn’t realized and can’t explain to anyone else how vast a gulf there is between necessity and goodness." —Plato, The Republic

"Above all things, respect yourself." —Pythagoras

"'Mind over matter' is a powerful expression. Your ability to consciously control your mindset is what makes you mentally tough and ready for life’s challenges. The secret to achieving this resilient state lies in taking control of your thoughts and allowing your thoughts to control your behaviors, not the other way around. Your ability to take control of your emotional responses and live a stoic-inspired life is the secret to success, to your happiness, and to your improved well-being. When you are able to see situations as opportunities and emotional responses as conscious choices—when you realize things don’t happen to you but rather with you—your outlook completely changes. How you see your situation affects and influences how you feel about that situation. You are not merely a byproduct of your circumstances. You are a choosing being who has the ability to determine your emotional responses, which in turn shapes how you view the world, yourselves, and others. But learning to change your perspectives takes practice—practice which will in turn help increase your self-confidence. By practicing cognitive restructuring, you can retrain your brain and create new habits that will make you the master of any situation. When choosing how you feel and react becomes your choice, you will feel more in control. “Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace." —Epictetus

"Above all things, respect yourself." —Pythagoras

"A humble art affords us daily bread." —Nero

"You become what you give your attention to." —Epictetus

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." —Diogenes

"'Mind over matter' is a powerful expression. Your ability to consciously control your mindset is what makes you mentally tough and ready for life’s challenges. The secret to achieving this resilient state lies in taking control of your thoughts and allowing your thoughts to control your behaviors, not the other way around. Your ability to take control of your emotional responses and live a stoic-inspired life is the secret to success, to your happiness, and to your improved well-being. When you are able to see situations as opportunities and emotional responses as conscious choices—when you realize things don’t happen to you but rather with you—your outlook completely changes. How you see your situation affects and influences how you feel about that situation. You are not merely a byproduct of your circumstances. You are a choosing being who has the ability to determine your emotional responses, which in turn shapes how you view the world, yourselves, and others. But learning to change your perspectives takes practice—practice which will in turn help increase your self-confidence. By practicing cognitive restructuring, you can retrain your brain and create new habits that will make you the master of any situation. When choosing how you feel and react becomes your choice, you will feel more in control. “Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace." —Epictetus

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit." —Aristotle

"The willing are led by fate, the reluctant dragged." —Cleanthes

"Deaths that are greater, greater portions gain." —Heraclitus

"As long as you live, keep learning how to live." —Seneca

"Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do is smile back." —Marcus Aurelius

"People often say what is right and do what is wrong; but nobody can be in the wrong if he is doing what is right." —Xenophon, Conversations Of Socrates

"We must take a higher view of all things, and bear with them more easily: it better becomes a man to scoff at life than to lament over it." —Seneca

"It is greed to do all the talking but to not want to listen at all." —Democritus