Today we will reflect on my favorite sayings of the Roman Stoic philosophers.
Many of the writings of the Stoics sound like passages from the Pauline Epistles. Indeed, Seneca was a contemporary of St Paul. There are epistles written between them, though nearly all scholars think they are spurious. Was St Paul inspired by the Stoic writings of Seneca? Although the Jewish rabbinic tradition was the primary source of inspiration for the Epistles and the Gospels, stoicism was an important secondary influence. In particular, stoicism deeply influenced the desert monastic tradition, which in turn influenced medieval monasticism.
All of these sayings have been covered in our prior videos on Stoicism, this is a collection of my favorite maxims.
ROMAN STOIC PHILOSOPHERS
The main Roman Stoic philosophers were Epictetus, a former slave who lived in poverty; Musonius Rufus, his exiled teacher; Seneca, tutor and eventual victim of Emperor Nero, one of the wealthiest Romans of his day; and Marcus Aurelius, who was Roman Emperor. The Roman Stoic philosophers came from all walks of life.
YouTube script with Amazon book links: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshows/major-roman-stoic-philosophers-my-favorite-maxims-epictetus-rufus-seneca-marcus-aurelius/265989924
YouTube video for this blog: https://youtu.be/E0qQgqGkoOE
LIVES OF ROMAN STOIC PHILOSOPHERS
Seneca, born 4 BC, died 65 AD.
St Paul, born 5 AD, died 64-67 AD.
Musonius Rufus, born 20-30 AD, died 101 AD.
Epictetus, born 50 AD, died 135 AD.
Marcus Aurelius, born 121 AD, died 180 AD.
EPICTETUS: FORMER SLAVE OF A FORMER SLAVE
Epictetus was a former slave of a former slave, and many regard his as the most renowned of the Roman Stoic Philosophers.
Epictetus, Stoic Philosopher
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/epictetus-discourses-blog-1/
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/epictetus-discourses-blog-2/
https://youtu.be/Dhd543kov-E
Epictetus tells us of someone who stole his lamp one night, he got the better end of the exchange. For Epictetus only lost his lamp, but he kept his faith. The man who stole his lamp, in exchange for the lamp, he consented to become a thief, becoming faithless.[1]
Epictetus tells us, “Forgiveness is better than revenge. Forgiveness shows gentleness, revenge shows savagery.”[2]
What does Epictetus say about friendship and love? “He who knows good knows how to love, but he who cannot tell good from bad, nor tell what is neither good nor bad from both, how can he love? Only the wise know how to love.”
How does Epictetus describe the true friend? “He will bear with the man who is unlike himself, he will be kind to him, gentle, ready to pardon on account of his ignorance, not being harsh to any man, being convinced of Plato’s doctrine that every mind is deprived of truth unwillingly.”[3]
Epictetus warns us that men should not behave like animals. “It is enough for animals to eat and drink and copulate and all the other things they do. But for us men, to whom God has gifted the intellect, these things are not sufficient, for unless we act in a proper and orderly manner according to our nature, we shall never attain our true end.” [4]
Epictetus praises God for an entirely different and opposing gift. Epictetus boldly asks of God, “Send now, O God, any trial that Thou wishes; for You have given me the means and the power to acquit myself with honor through whatever trials come to pass!”
But instead, how do most face the trials in their life? Few encounter life’s challenges with such bravado, for Epictetus upbraids his students, “there you sit, trembling for fear for what may come to pass, and moaning and groaning and lamenting over what does come to pass. And then blame the Almighty God. Such meanness of spirit can have one result: Impiety.”[5]
MUSONIUS RUFUS: TEACHER OF EPICTETUS
Musonius Rufus originally taught in a school of philosophy in Rome, but was exiled first by Nero, and after he returned, he was again exiled by Emperor Vespasian. He was the teacher of both Epictetus and Dio Chrysostom.
Musonius Rufus on Exile
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/musonius-rufus-on-exile/
Musonius Rufus, Stoic Philosopher, Forgiveness and Obedience
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/musonius-rufus-stoic-philosopher-forgiveness-and-obedience/
Stoic Musonius Rufus on Forgiveness, Obedience, Exile, and Living a Philosophical Life
https://youtu.be/2Ft0YOjfbP8
Rufus asks: “Who suffers more, the person who is wronged, or the wrong-doer? The wrong-doer suffers shame, not the wronged.” Rufus tells us that it is petty to count wrongs like sheep, if he is virtuous the wronged “will calmly and quietly bear what has happened, since that is how the magnanimous behave.” “Plotting how to bite back someone who bites and return evil against the evil-doer is characteristic of a beast, not a man.” [6]
The most important question Rufus asks is, “How can exile be an obstacle to the acquisition of virtue when no one was ever hindered from the knowledge and practice of what is needful because of exile?” In the modern world, divorce is a type of exile.
On Exile, Rufus concludes, “Certainly the exile is not prevented from possessing courage and justice simply because he is banished, nor is he denied self-control or any virtue that brings honor and benefit to the man with a good reputation and worthy of praise.” “If you are good, you will never be harmed or degraded by exile, for your virtues will help you and sustain you. But if you are bad, it is the evil that harms you and not exile, and the misery you feel in exile is the product of evil, not of exile.” [7]
Rufus advises us:
“Speak of shameful things, and you will lose your reluctance to do them.”
“If you work hard to do what is right, do not be upset by roadblocks.”
“You will deserve respect from everyone if you start by respecting yourself.”
“Only the man who learns to want nothing in every circumstance is truly wealthy.”
“Don’t expect to tell others what they should do when they know that you do what you shouldn’t.” [8]
Many consider the teachings of St Augustine as rather strict, but if you compare his teachings on concupiscence, or on love and lust, the writings of Musonius Rufus are more severe.
Musonius Rufus on Concupiscence and Controlling the Appetites
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/musonius-rufus-on-concupiscence-and-controlling-the-appetites/
St Augustine, Stoic Musonius Rufus, & Ruth on Concupiscence: Love or Lust? Controlling the Passions
https://youtu.be/-wv6bVeG74A
St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 1
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-concupiscence-blog-1/
St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 2
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-concupiscence-blog-2/
St Augustine on Concupiscence, Blog 3, Final Reflections
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/st-augustine-on-concupiscence-blog-3-final-reflections/
SENECA: WEALTHY ROMAN, NERO’S TUTOR AND VICTIM
While Epictetus was a destitute former slave, Seneca was one of the wealthiest citizens of Rome. He was Nero’s tutor and advisor early in his reign, and Nero in his early years was a competent emperor. When Nero became unhinged, Seneca then retired to a remote estate. After Nero murdered both his wife and his mother, Seneca knew the time would come when soldiers came to his door to compel him to commit suicide for suspected participation in some plot.
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 1, Living Well, Dying Well
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-1-living-well-dying-well/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 2, Stoicism and Living a Godly Life
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-2-stoicism-and-living-a-godly-life/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 3, Loving Philosophy, Loving God, Loving our Neighbor
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-3-loving-philosophy-loving-god-loving-our-neighbor/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 4, Stoic Concepts of Virtue and the Good
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-4-stoic-concepts-of-virtue-and-the-good/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 5, On the Benefits of Friends and Keeping Score
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-5-on-the-benefits-of-friends-and-keeping-score/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 6, Stoicism and the Golden Rule
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-6-stoicism-and-the-golden-rule/
Seneca, Moral Epistles, Blog 7, Precious Stoic Nuggets of Wisdom
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/seneca-moral-epistles-blog-7-precious-stoic-nuggets-of-wisdom/
Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic Philosopher, Short Biography and Sayings
https://youtu.be/wgD8skYi3I0
Seneca: Stoic Sayings on Virtue, Friendship, Pleasure, Joy, and Philosophy
https://youtu.be/m4mcP2F9c4w
Since he was a wealthy aristocrat, Seneca admired the works of Epicurus, who praised pleasure in moderation. On the other hand, Epictetus despised Epicurus, viewing his philosophy as encouraging hedonism.
Seneca then shares a thought he learned from Epicurus, “Contented poverty is an honorable estate.” Seneca adds that this is not poverty at all, for “it is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. What does it matter how much a man has laid up in his safe, or in his warehouse, how large are his flocks or how fat his dividends, if he covets his neighbor’s property, and reckons, not his past gains, but his hopes of gains to come? [9]
Seneca advises us, “Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.”[10]
Seneca bounces back, “Life is not worth living” if we multiply our sorrows with our worries. Instead, “temper your fear with hope.”[11]
“Philosophy is the study of wisdom, for as Seneca writes, “no man can live a happy life without the study of wisdom.”
You must study philosophy every day, “you must persevere, you must develop new strength by continuous study, until that which is only a good inclination becomes a good habit.” “Philosophy molds and constructs the soul; it orders our life, guides our conduct, shows us what we should do and what we should leave undone; philosophy sits at the helm of our ship and directs our course as we waver amid the uncertainties of life. Without philosophy, no one can live fearlessly or in peace of mind.” [12]
What is joy? Seneca answers, “Real joy is a stern matter.” Real joy endures poverty, endures suffering, endures pain. Real joy is not idle laughter, real joy does not chase passing pleasures. “Pleasure, unless it is controlled, tends to rush headlong into the abyss of sorrow.” [13]
Seneca quotes Epicurus, “The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation.”
Seneca explains, “He who does not know that he has sinned does not desire correction; you must discover yourself in the wrong before you can reform yourself. Some boast of their faults. Do you think that the man has any thought of mending his ways who holds up his vices as if they were his virtues? Therefore, prove yourself guilty, hunt up charges against yourself. Play the part first of accuser, then of judge, last of intercessor. At times be harsh with yourself.”
Seneca says that “every honorable act is voluntary. But if the honorable act is done with reluctance, complaints, cowardice, or fear, it loses its best characteristic – self-approval.” [14]
Seneca says, “Learning virtue means unlearning vice. We must free ourselves from our faults with courage, for once we attain it the good can be an everlasting possession; virtue is not unlearned.” “The mind must be forced to make the first step, but from then on the medicine is not bitter.”[15]
“That which is honorable is the only good, all other goods are alloyed and debased.” When you “love virtue with devotion, for mere loving is not enough, anything that has been touched by virtue will be fraught with blessing and prosperity for you, no matter how it shall be regarded by others.”
All the sufferings of life “which others regard as ills will become manageable and will end in good if you succeed in rising above them.”
Seneca quotes Socrates, “Allow any man who wishes to insult you and harm you, but if only virtue dwells within you, you will suffer nothing.”
Indeed, Seneca says the wise man is happy in his sufferings, “for unless a man is happy, he has not attained the Supreme Good. If only virtue exists in a man, and if adversity does not impair his virtue, and though the body be injured, virtue abides unharmed.” [16]
How should the good man keep his scorecard? “The good man voluntarily cheats himself by adding to the benefits he receives and subtracting from the injuries he suffers.”
Who truly benefits from our kindness? “The reward for all virtues lies in the virtues themselves.” Virtues do not seek recognition or plaques or even encouragement, “the wages of a good deed lie in the doing of the deed.” “The reward for all virtues lies in the virtues themselves.”
Seneca affirms, “I am grateful, not so my neighbor should reward me for my act of kindness, but rather I am grateful to perform acts of loving kindness; I feel grateful, not to profit from my kindness, but for the pleasure of being kind.”
Seneca says, “Let us avoid being ungrateful, not for the sake of others but for our own sake.”
Likewise, Seneca warns us: “Evil drinks the largest portion of her own poison.” “When we do wrong, only the least portion flows back upon our neighbor, the worst and densest portion blows back, troubling us instead.”
Seneca says that “wisdom lends grace to every benefit and delights her soul by recollecting the benefit.” But the wise man “takes delight not so much from receiving the gift as in having received it, and this joy never perishes, abiding always.”
“Though the wise man may despise the wrongs done to him, he forgets them, not accidentally, but voluntarily. The wise man does not put a wrong construction upon everything, or seek someone to blame, but rather he ascribes even the sins of men to chance. The wise man will not misinterpret a word or a look, he makes light of all mishaps by interpreting them generously. He does not remember the injury, rather, the wise man remembers the earlier and better deed,” except when the bad deeds overwhelm the good deeds. [17]
Seneca tells us, “The first and worst penalty of sin is to have committed sin,” and although the thief may grow rich through crime, though Fortune may protect the thief, “crime never goes unpunished, since the punishment lies in committing the crime itself,” for the criminal lives in “constant fear, constant terror,” never secure, never sleeping peacefully, always wakened by the pangs of conscience. “Even men who hide their sins can never count on remaining hidden, for their conscience convicts them and reveals them to themselves.” [18]
Seneca tells us, “The soul is more powerful than Fortune, on its own the soul can produce a happy life or a wretched life.” “A bad man makes everything bad, but an upright and honest man can correct the wrongs of Fortune, softening hardship and bitterness through endurance, accepting prosperity with appreciation and moderation, standing up to troubles with steadfastness and courage.” [19]
How should you treat your fellow man? Seneca tells us, “Try, in your dealings with others, to harm not, in order that you not be harmed.” “You should rejoice with your neighbor in all his joys and sympathize with him in all his troubles.”
As Seneca observes, “the credit lies not in the actual deed, but in the way it is done.” “As our acts and our thoughts are, so will our lives be.” [20]
Seneca says, “Let each man convince himself of this before all else: ‘I must be just without reward.’” [21]
Seneca says, “Let all your thoughts be turned as far as possible from your personal interests. You need not look about for the reward of a just deed; a just deed in itself offers a still greater return. Remember this, it makes no difference how many are aware of your righteousness. If you wish your virtue to be advertised, you are not striving for virtue but for praise.”
“Money never made a man rich; it always smites men with a greater craving for wealth.” “We are unequal at birth but are equal in death.”
“Vices are never genuinely tamed.” Like lions and tigers, “it is easier to stop vices in the beginning than to control them when they gather force.” “We are in love with our vices, we uphold them and prefer to make excuses for them rather than shake them off.” [22]
Seneca comments in his letter on Old Age, “If God is pleased to add to our lives another day, we should welcome it with glad hearts. That man is happiest, and is secure in his own possession of himself. When a man had said ‘I have lived!’, every morning he awakes he receives a bonus.”
Seneca reflects on his retirement, “Life is most delightful when it is on the downward slope but has not reached the abrupt decline.”
Seneca says, “It is as foolish to fear death as to fear old age; for death follows old age precisely as old age follows youth.” [23]
MARCUS AURELIUS: ROMAN EMPEROR AND PHILOSPHER
Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Good Emperors, the five Emperors who did not inherit the throne but were rather considered to be the best man for the office when they were adopted by their predecessors. His predecessors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius tutored him with the most renowned Stoic teachers. But also, this philosopher-king did not live up to Plato’s expectations, as his son Commodus was as wicked and foolish as was Nero, except the Commodus did not persecute the Christians.
Marcus Aurelius Blog 2, Others will be irritating, but not I!
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/marcus-aurelius-blog-2-others-will-be-irritating-but-not-i/
Marcus Aurelius Blog 3 Genuine Friends Don’t Keep Scorecards
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/marcus-aurelius-blog-3-genuine-friendships-have-no-scorecards/
Marcus Aurelius Blog 4 Be critical of yourself, be gracious towards your neighbor
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/marcus-aurelius-blog-4-be-critical-of-yourself-be-gracious-towards-your-neighbor/
Marcus Aurelius Blog 5 Seeing life’s misfortunes through the eyes of our neighbor
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/marcus-aurelius-blog-5-seeing-lifes-misfortunes-through-the-eyes-of-our-neighbor/
Marcus Aurelius: Meditations: Stoic View of Life
https://youtu.be/0qHpReZYhv4
Marcus Aurelius advises us to “begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them because they are ignorant of what is good and evil.” “I can neither be injured by any of these, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him.”
“Since it is possible that you might depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.”
Marcus Aurelius: “Good and evil happen indiscriminately to the good and the bad.” “Death and life, honor and dishonor, pain and pleasure: all these things happen equally to good men and bad, being things which make us neither better nor worse. Therefore, they are neither good nor evil.” [24]
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over you. While you live, while it is in your power, live a godly life.” “Take away the complaint, ‘I have been harmed,’ and the harm is taken away.” [25][26]
The Meditations counsel us to “be like the rock against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the waters around it. Do not say, ‘I am unhappy, because this has happened to me.’ But rather say, ‘I am happy, though this has happened to me, because I continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future.’”
Marcus Aurelius reminds us: “Your habitual thoughts will determine the character of your mind, for the soul is dyed by your thoughts.”
Likewise, Marcus Aurelius observes, “it is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong,” for the wrongdoers “are fellow humans who do wrong through ignorance, often unintentionally,” and like us they will also soon die. “Above all, the wrongdoer has done you no harm” for he cannot steal your virtue and goodness.”
Marcus Aurelius continues, “it is your duty to pardon those who wrong you,” they may be mistaken, they may be deluded into thinking they have actually done what is right. “If any man has done wrong, he harms himself. But perhaps he has not done wrong.”
Marcus Aurelius proposes, “Suppose any man shall despise me,” let him worry about that. But my concern is rather that I not do or say anything in response that is contemptible. “Shall any man hate me? That will be his affair. But I will be mild and benevolent toward every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, not yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly.”
Marcus Aurelius observes, “God sees into the minds and hearts of all men bared naked of vestments and rind and impurities.”
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it,” do not even think that which is not true.
“Does the light of the lamp shine without losing its splendor until it is extinguished; and shall the truth that is in you and justice and temperance be extinguished before your death?”
Marcus Aurelius bids us to “Love mankind, follow God,” which is very close to: Love God, and love your neighbor.
“It is man’s special gift to love even those who fall into blunders, that sin is ignorance and unintentional,” this is a Platonic concept, “that in a little while we shall both be dead, and above all, no injury has been done to us; our inner self is not made worse than it was before.” [27]
OTHER REFLECTIONS ON MARCUS AURLIUS
One of our most reflections was on whether Marcus Aurelius was a friend or foe of Christians. This was prompted by a spurious epistle credited to Marcus Aurelius in the Ante-Nicene Church Fathers extolling Christianity, and a mention of a possibly spurious account by the ancient Church historian Eusebius that Marcus Aurelius credited the Christian God for a battlefield miracle against the Germanic tribes. We later looked into this question further, reflecting on the biographies of Marcus Aurelius, modern and ancient, and on the history of Christian persecutions.
Marcus Aurelius, Blog 1, Friend, or Foe, or Both, of Christianity?
http://www.seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/marcus-aurelius-blog-1-friend-or-foe-or-both-of-christianity/
Marcus Aurelius and Christian Persecutions: Friend or Foe?
https://youtu.be/-uQxq1O9xSY
Did the Stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Actively Persecute the Christians?
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/did-the-stoic-roman-emperor-marcus-aurelius-actively-persecute-the-christians
https://youtu.be/7xEeggL9wKs
Biography of Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Philosopher and Roman Emperor
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/biography-of-marcus-aurelius-roman-emperor-and-stoic-philosopher/
https://youtu.be/nvWYu8ofhCA
History of Christian Persecutions, New Testament Through Marcus Aurelius
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/history-of-christian-persecutions-new-testament-through-marcus-aurelius/
https://youtu.be/9THdbyx-jHU
We also reflected on the biography of his wayward son, Emperor Commodus, who endangered the Roman Empire by his incompetence and cruelty.
The Cruel Roman Emperor Commodus, Son of the Good Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-cruel-roman-emperor-commodus-son-of-the-good-stoic-emperor-marcus-aurelius/
https://youtu.be/iXHVCzW0YOQ
The modern biographies of Marcus Aurelius also provided enough background information for reflections on prior Roman Emperors, Ordinary Life for Romans during his reign, and additional information on the ancient warrior cultures of Greece, Israel, and Rome.
Roman Emperors Before Marcus Aurelius
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/roman-emperors-before-marcus-aurelius/
https://youtu.be/6i–hVIpg1k
Ordinary Life for Romans Under Stoic Emperor Marcus Aurelius
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ordinary-life-for-romans-under-stoic-emperor-marcus-aurelius/
https://youtu.be/9hgSbcgbCJw
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 1, The Warrior Ethos of Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-1-the-warrior-ethos-of-ancient-greece/
Ancient Warrior Culture, Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel
https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 2, Greek and Roman Armies and Navies
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-2-greek-and-roman-armies-and-navies/
Ancient Warrior Societies, Blog 3, World of the Old Testament
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/ancient-warrior-societies-blog-3-world-of-the-old-testament/
Ancient Warfare in Ancient Greece, Rome, and Israel. Did Joshua Massacre Pagans in Promised Land?
https://youtu.be/9xKxqAbJ2qY
DISCUSSING THE SOURCES
The Stoic Six Pack includes the writings of Seneca and Epictetus, but their translation of Marcus Aurelius I found unintelligible, so I used the Dover Thrift Edition. These are also available free on the internet. The stoics were the self-help gurus of the ancient world, their works are both fun and easy to read, as you can tell from this video.
My advice is when you purchase books by ancient philosophers is to search for those translated and comment by Robin Waterfield. I learned of him through my studies of Xenophon. His footnotes are invaluable, and his other books are excellent background on the ancient world.
The Historian Robin Waterfield Reflects on Xenophon’s Anabasis in Persia, and Other Greco-Persian Conflicts
https://seekingvirtueandwisdom.com/the-historian-robin-waterfield-reflects-on-xenophons-anabasis-in-persia-and-other-greco-persian-conflicts/
https://youtu.be/sOZAKFfEnKw
Professor Luke Timothy Johnson turned me on to reading the stoic philosophers, we highly recommend these Great Courses lectures, they are not included in the Wondrium collection.
For an affordable annual subscription, you can also access these works in the Loeb Classic Library, which includes their English translations as well as the original Greek and Latin.
[1] The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, In the Stoic Six Pack – Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and More, The Complete Stoic Collection, translated by Hastings Crossly,(Enhanced media, 2014, first published 1909), Saying XII, p. 83.
[2] The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, Saying XCVI, p. 108.
[3] The Discourses of Epictetus, pp. 174-176.
[4] The Discourses of Epictetus, p. 138-139.
[5] The Discourses of Epictetus, p. 139.
[6] Musonius Rufus, translated by Cynthia King (published by www.CreateSpace.com, 2011), from Lectures, Book 10, pp. 50-51.
[7] Musonius Rufus, from Lectures, Book 9, pp. 44-49.
[8] Musonius Rufus, Lectures, Book 16, pp. 65-68.
[9] Seneca, Moral Discourses,” in Stoic Six-Park – Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and More, translated by Richard Gummere, (Enhanced Media, 2014, first published 1925), Letter II, 220.
[10] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter X, 233.
[11] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter X,232
[12] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A19-21&version=NRSVCE
[13] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter XXXIII, 258-259.
[14] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter XXVIII, 268-269
[15] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter L, 301.
[16] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter LXXI, 350-354.
[17] Seneca, “Moral Discourses, Letter LXXXI, 386-391.
[18] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter XCVII, 477
[19] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter XCVII, 477
[20] Seneca, “Moral Discourses,” Letter CIII, 494.
[21] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter CXIII, 522.
[22] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter CXVI, 531.
[23] Seneca, Moral Discourses, Letter X,232
[24] Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations,” translated by George Long, revised and updated (Dover Publications, 1997), Book 1 and Book II, 1-20.
[25] Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations,” Book IV, 19-27.
[26] Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations,” various.
[27] Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations,” various.
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