Ancient Wisdom

"Men are of little worth. Their brief lives last a single day. They cannot hold elusive pleasure fast; Ii melts away. All laurels wither; all illusions fade; Hopes have been phantoms, shade on air-built shade since time began." —Sophocles

2026-07-18 21:21:03 UTC

"For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories." —Plato

2026-07-18 12:21:04 UTC

"Never discourage anyone…who continually makes progress, no matter how slow." —Plato

2026-07-17 03:21:02 UTC

"The problem creates the solution. What stands in the way becomes the way." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-07-16 21:21:03 UTC

"Well begun is half done." —Aristotle

2026-07-16 12:21:04 UTC

"For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories." —Plato

2026-07-14 21:21:02 UTC

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." —Seneca

2026-07-14 03:21:03 UTC

"The fates lead the willing but drag the unwilling." —Cleanthes

2026-07-13 03:21:02 UTC

"Men seek out retreats for themselves in the country, by the seaside, on the mountains… nowhere can a man find a retreat more peaceful or more free from trouble than his own soul." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-07-12 21:21:04 UTC

"A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence." —Pythagoras

2026-07-10 12:21:03 UTC

"You are well aware that it is not numbers or strength that bring the victories in war. No, it is when one side goes against the enemy with the gods’ gift of a stronger morale that their adversaries, as a rule, cannot withstand them. I have noticed this point too, my friends, that in soldiering the people whose one aim is to keep alive usually find a wretched and dishonorable death, while the people who, realizing that death is the common lot of all men, make it their endeavour to die with honour, somehow seem more often to reach old age and to have a happier life when they are alive. These are facts which you too should realize (our situation demands it) and should show that you yourselves are brave men and should call on the rest to do likewise." —Xenophon, The Persian Expedition

2026-07-10 03:21:03 UTC

2026-07-08 03:21:03 UTC

"All cruelty springs from weakness." —Seneca

2026-07-07 03:21:03 UTC

"He who hesitates is lost." —Cato

2026-07-06 03:21:03 UTC

"As a matter of self-perseveration, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task." —Diogenes

2026-07-05 03:21:02 UTC

"From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself, separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do—now." —Epictetus

2026-07-04 12:21:03 UTC

"We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say." —Zeno, Quoted By Diogenes Laërtius

2026-07-02 03:21:22 UTC

"The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things." —Epictetus

2026-07-01 12:21:03 UTC

"He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-07-01 03:21:03 UTC

"The fool’s life is empty of gratitude and full of fears; its course lies wholly toward the future." —Epicurus

2026-06-29 21:21:03 UTC

"It is thus with farming: if you do one thing late, you will be late in all your work." —Cato The Elder

2026-06-28 21:21:03 UTC

"Think your way through difficulties: harsh conditions can be softened, restricted ones can be widened, and heavy ones can weigh less on those who know how to bear them." —Seneca

2026-06-26 03:21:03 UTC

"How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?" —Seneca

2026-06-24 03:21:02 UTC

"What then is that which is able to conduct a man? One thing and only one, philosophy." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-06-23 12:21:03 UTC

"If it’s endurable, then endure it, stop complaining." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-06-23 03:21:02 UTC

"I do not know whether I shall make progress; but I should prefer to lack success rather than to lack faith." —Seneca

2026-06-22 21:21:29 UTC

"People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die." —Plato

2026-06-21 03:21:02 UTC

"The measure of a man is what he does with power." —Plato

2026-06-19 03:21:03 UTC

"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not." —Epicurus

2026-06-17 21:21:03 UTC

2026-06-17 12:21:02 UTC

"So it is with men too: even if they don’t want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined." —Zeno

2026-06-11 12:21:04 UTC

"Above all things, respect yourself." —Pythagoras

2026-06-10 21:21:03 UTC

"Above all things, respect yourself." —Pythagoras

2026-06-08 21:21:03 UTC

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

2026-06-08 03:21:03 UTC

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

2026-06-05 21:21:03 UTC

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself." —Hierocles

2026-06-04 12:21:04 UTC

"There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power or our will." —Epictetus

2026-06-04 03:21:03 UTC

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." —Plato

2026-05-31 21:21:02 UTC

"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-30 21:21:03 UTC

"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-30 12:21:03 UTC

"The problem creates the solution. What stands in the way becomes the way." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-27 21:21:03 UTC

"Love is a serious mental disease." —Plato, Phaedrus

2026-05-27 12:21:03 UTC

"All that exists is the seed of what will emerge from it." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-27 03:21:04 UTC

"Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-25 21:21:03 UTC

"I do not know whether I shall make progress; but I should prefer to lack success rather than to lack faith." —Seneca

2026-05-25 03:21:03 UTC

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." —Cicero

2026-05-24 03:21:02 UTC

"If you don’t have consistent goal in life, you can’t live it in a consistent way." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-23 12:21:04 UTC

"Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty." —Socrates

2026-05-22 03:21:03 UTC

"Wisdom outweighs any wealth." —Sophocles

2026-05-21 21:21:04 UTC

"Rule your mind or it will rule you." —Horace

2026-05-21 12:21:02 UTC

"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-21 03:21:03 UTC

"Let your speech be better than silence, or be silent." —Dionysius

2026-05-20 03:21:03 UTC

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." —Cicero

2026-05-19 21:21:02 UTC

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." —Cicero

2026-05-19 03:21:03 UTC

"Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary?" —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-18 12:21:03 UTC

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

2026-05-17 21:21:02 UTC

"The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny—it is the light that guides your way." —Heraclitus

2026-05-15 21:21:03 UTC

"One man is worth thousand if he is extraordinary." —Heraclitus

2026-05-13 03:21:02 UTC

"What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself." —Hecato Of Rhodes

2026-05-11 03:21:03 UTC

"If I followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy." —Chrysippus

2026-05-10 12:21:04 UTC

"Anyone who can make you angry becomes your master." —Epictetus

2026-05-09 21:21:03 UTC

"The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself." —Augustine Of Hippo

2026-05-09 03:21:03 UTC

"Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you." —Epictetus

2026-05-08 12:21:03 UTC

"Be indifferent to what makes no difference." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-05-03 03:21:02 UTC

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." —Aristotle

2026-04-30 21:21:03 UTC

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." —Seneca

2026-04-28 21:21:02 UTC

"If a friend feels upset by you, be the first to try to put things right." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-27 21:21:03 UTC

"Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen." —Anaxagoras

2026-04-27 03:21:02 UTC

"No man can have a peaceful life who thinks too much about lengthening it." —Seneca

2026-04-26 12:21:03 UTC

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child." —Cicero

2026-04-26 03:21:02 UTC

"The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself." —Hierocles

2026-04-25 12:21:02 UTC

"Nothing exists except atoms and free space, everything else is opinion." —Democritus

2026-04-20 21:21:02 UTC

"If God listened to the prayers of men, all men would quickly have perished: for they are forever praying for evil against one another." —Epicurus

2026-04-17 21:21:03 UTC

"Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." —Plato

2026-04-16 21:21:04 UTC

"He who hesitates is lost." —Cato

2026-04-16 12:21:03 UTC

"Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards." —Diogenes

2026-04-12 21:21:02 UTC

"First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak." —Epictetus

2026-04-11 03:21:03 UTC

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

2026-04-09 21:21:02 UTC

"Only the dead have seen the end of war." —Plato

2026-04-07 12:21:03 UTC

"Love is born into every human being; it calls back the halves of our original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature." —Plato, The Symposium

2026-04-06 21:21:02 UTC

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this, you have the power to revoke at any moment." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-05 21:21:02 UTC

"He who conquers his passions is master of his own worlds." —Hierocles

2026-04-05 12:21:02 UTC

"And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-05 03:21:02 UTC

"Nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but are in want of everything." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-04 21:21:02 UTC

"Before a crowd, the ignorant are more persuasive than the educated." —Aristotle

2026-04-04 12:21:03 UTC

"The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable." —Seneca

2026-04-04 03:21:02 UTC

2026-04-03 21:21:02 UTC

"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

2026-04-03 12:21:02 UTC

"All that exists is the seed of what will emerge from it." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-03 03:21:02 UTC

"It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable." —Seneca

2026-04-02 21:21:03 UTC

"'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

2026-04-02 12:21:02 UTC

"Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future, too." —Marcus Aurelius

2026-04-02 03:21:02 UTC

"Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company." —Seneca

2026-04-01 21:21:03 UTC

"What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." —Plutarch

2026-04-01 12:21:07 UTC

"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." —Epictetus

2026-04-01 03:21:04 UTC

"So it is with men too: even if they don’t want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined." —Zeno

2026-03-31 21:21:04 UTC

"We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say." —Zeno, Quoted By Diogenes Laërtius

2026-03-31 12:21:07 UTC

"Well-being is attained little by little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself." —Zeno Of Citium

2026-03-31 03:21:05 UTC

"Rashness belongs to youth; prudence to old age." —Marcus Tullius Cicero