Cleanthes
c. 330–230 BCE · Second head of the Stoic school
Cleanthes succeeded Zeno as head of the Stoic school in Athens. By day he worked as a water-carrier to fund his studies. His "Hymn to Zeus" is one of the few surviving Stoic poems, expressing acceptance of fate and the rational order of the cosmos.
Ideas from Cleanthes
“Lead me, Zeus, and you too, Destiny, to where you have assigned me.”
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
“I follow willingly; but if I do not, I shall be forced to follow.”
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
Lead me, O Zeus, and thou, O Destiny, whithersoever I am by you assigned to go; for I will follow without flinching; or if I shrink and be unwilling, I shall follow all the same, and be none the less a coward.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
From hardship, the will grows strong; from ease, it grows soft.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
All things are accomplished by Zeus, and nothing comes to pass without him.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
Virtue alone is sufficient for a good life; all else is indifferent.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
The willing are led by fate; the unwilling are dragged.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
Lead me, O Zeus, and lead me, Destiny, to the goal appointed for me.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
Reason is the ruler of the universe, and the mind shares in it.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus