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Stoicism for Discipline
Discipline, to a Stoic, is freedom. The person ruled by impulse is ruled by whatever appears next; the person who chooses deliberately is self-governed. Small, repeated choices are how character is built.
Stoic ideas for this
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
Epictetus · Discourses
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Epictetus · Discourses
“If you want to improve, be content to appear foolish and stupid to others.”
Epictetus · Enchiridion
“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.”
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
“If you are going to learn, you must be punished; for the man who is not punished is not taught.”
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Neither should a free man be a slave to his body, nor should he neglect it.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Philosophy is not a skill for display, but a discipline for living.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
“Well-being is attained by little and little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.”
Zeno of Citium · Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers
Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“Only the educated are free.”
Epictetus · Discourses
“Keep silence for the most part, and speak only when you must, and then briefly.”
Epictetus · Enchiridion
Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.
Epictetus · Discourses
“Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.”
Epictetus · Discourses
Difficulties are things that show a person what they are.
Epictetus · Discourses
“He who is everywhere is nowhere.”
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
The greatest impediment to living a good life is being a slave to pleasures.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
“You are a little soul carrying around a corpse.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Have respect for the part of yourself that is able to form an opinion and govern the rest.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“If a person handed over your body to some passer-by, you would be angry; do you feel no shame in handing over your mind to any reviser, to be confused and troubled by him?”
Epictetus · Discourses
“Every habit and faculty is preserved and increased by correspondent actions: as the habit of walking, by walking; of running, by running.”
Epictetus · Enchiridion
“Remember that you must behave in life as at a dinner party. Is anything brought round to you? Put out your hand and take your share with moderation. Does it pass by you? Do not stop it. Is it not yet come? Do not stretch your desire toward it, but wait till it comes.”
Epictetus · Enchiridion
Sickness is an impediment to the body, but not to the will, unless the will itself chooses.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Leisure without study is death, and burial of a man alive.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Both for the body and the soul, the practice of endurance is necessary, if we wish to become better than we are.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Look to the governing reason.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Do not pride yourself on any quality which is not your own.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“From my grandfather Verus I learned good morals and the government of my temper. A disposition to be unmoved by trifles, and patient when provoked.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Do not waste the remainder of your life in thoughts about others, unless you are led to think of them for the common good.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
A man should be upright, not kept upright.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Be a man of action rather than a man of much talk.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Progress is not achieved by leisurely browsing through books.
Epictetus · Discourses
“The beginning of philosophy is the consciousness of one’s own weakness and incapacity in the things that concern the conduct of life.”
Epictetus · Discourses
If you would have these things, remember to ask yourself whether you can do without them.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare. This will show you that you need not despair if you must do without luxuries at any time.”
Seneca · On the Shortness of Life
The mind requires nourishment as much as the body.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
The man who chooses the shortest route often arrives last. Those who walk at random, but with good hope, are sometimes seen to make the journey of the king.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Girls as well as boys should study philosophy; the things that befall men befall women too, and they have the same nature.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Creatures are snared by their desires, as with bird-lime.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Let your deeds outnumber your words.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of thinking that one knows.
Epictetus · Discourses
He is free who lives as he wishes; he is the master of himself who cannot be prevented in his will.
Epictetus · Discourses
Great things are not suddenly done; they are the end of a long series of small things.
Epictetus · Discourses
Let us order our minds as if we had come to the end of our days.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
We must not endure with patience what we can avoid; but we must endure bravely what we cannot avoid.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
It is a great thing to have a single standard for life.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Philosophy is the medicine of the soul.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Hard labor and discipline are good for the soul, not only for the body.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Beauty of the soul is more valuable than beauty of the body, and virtue outlasts the body.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
From hardship, the will grows strong; from ease, it grows soft.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
When thou risest in the morning unwillingly, remember that thou risest to do the work of a man.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
“Do every act as if it were your last.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Be not ashamed to be helped; but rely on yourself first.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Do not postpone being good.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
The first thing to be attended to is the matter of our judgments; for what is not in our power to do cannot be in our power to do well.
Epictetus · Discourses
The matter on which a good man should be employed is the will.
Epictetus · Discourses
Avoid immoderate laughter, and do not let your mirth run to excess.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
Fire proves gold, and misfortune proves brave men.
Seneca · On Providence
Virtue is nothing else than a will in accordance with reason.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Train your children in virtue, not in wealth.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Courage is not shown in words, but in the bearing of hardships.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Eat to live, and not live to eat.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Live according to nature, which is to live according to reason.
Zeno of Citium · Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers
Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under observation in life.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
A man’s life is what his thoughts make it; be the master of your thoughts, not their slave.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
The soul is like a body: it becomes what it is exercised in.
Epictetus · Discourses
Misfortune is a great teacher; it teaches us what we are made of.
Seneca · On Providence
Patience is a form of wisdom; it knows that nothing great is done in haste.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
The beauty of the soul is not seen with the eyes, but with the judgment.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Take food for the body, but take wisdom for the soul; the one keeps you alive, the other makes life worth living.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
The things you cannot do, do not wish to do; and the things you can do, wish to do.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Be satisfied with the smallest effort that your nature allows, and do not strain after more than is needful.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
To the rational being, the same act is at once natural and calm.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Do not be carried away by the impression; examine it, and then decide.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
Freedom is not the power to do whatever you please, but the power to do what is right.
Epictetus · Discourses
Difficulties are the gymnasium of the will; there the mind is trained and strengthened.
Epictetus · Discourses
Learn each day something that will make you wiser, even if only a little.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
We should live as if we were to die tonight, and learn as if we were to live forever.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Let us so live that each day, at its close, we may say we have done something worth doing.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Work for the sake of virtue, and the reward is in the working.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Let the governing part of you be just; and all the rest will follow.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Cultivate the ruling reason within you; it is the one thing that is fully yours.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Be yourself, without pretense; nothing is more dignified than simple honesty.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
No man is able to make progress unless he trains himself, little by little, in what is difficult.
Epictetus · Discourses
Do not be a mere professor of wisdom; be a practitioner of it.
Epictetus · Discourses
What you would do, do often; for habit is formed by repetition.
Epictetus · Discourses
Your choice is the one thing that is entirely your own; guard it well.
Epictetus · Discourses
Endure and abstain; these two words contain the whole of the art of living.
Epictetus · Discourses
Set the mind in order each morning, before the day sets it in disorder.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Rest is not idleness; it is the renewal of the will, and the wise man takes enough of it.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Habit is a second nature.
Zeno of Citium · Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers
Let your every action be deliberate, as if it were the last of your life.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Waste no time arguing about what a good man should be; be one.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Your mind takes the color of your thoughts; choose them as you would choose a dye.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Give to the present the best you have, and it will give back the best it has.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Decide first what kind of person you want to be; then act on every occasion accordingly.
Epictetus · Discourses
Practice is the only teacher; you learn by doing, not by reading about doing.
Epictetus · Discourses
Do not pretend to a virtue you do not practice; the pretense will be found out.
Epictetus · Discourses
Win small victories over yourself, and the great ones will follow.
Epictetus · Discourses
Virtue is not a gift; it is a discipline, and it is won by daily effort.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Pain is a teacher; it shows us what we are still too weak to bear, so that we may grow strong.
Seneca · On Providence
Train the body to endure, and the soul will follow; for the two are one household.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Reason is the ruler of the universe, and the mind shares in it.
Cleanthes · Hymn to Zeus
Put it into practice
A Stoic tool is only useful if you actually use it. Try this small loop the next time discipline shows up:
- Name it plainly. Say what is happening without the story you are adding on top of it.
- Split what’s yours from what isn’t. Invest your energy only in the part you can actually choose.
- Do one small thing. A single deliberate action today beats a week of intending to.