Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life - is the source from which self-respect springs.
Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem
Quotes I've found interesting
Quotes about stoicism, software development, personal development or just whatever I wanted to remember.
He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.
Seneca
It was this thing that happened today. But other things happen other days. Things will happen tomorrow.
Shane Botwin, Weeds, s05e10
To Marcus the true measure of his wealth was that whenever he saw someone in need of help, he could provide it. Moreover, that wealth afforded him a unique luxury: he would never have to ask for such a favor in return.
Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic Email, 11/19/2021
No role is so well suited to philosophy as the one you happen to be in right now.
Marcus Aurelius
When your efforts are not directed at a cause or a purpose, how will you know what to do day in and day out? How will you know what to say no to and what to say yes to? How will you know when you’ve had enough, when you’ve reached your goal, when you’ve gotten off track, if you’ve never defined what those things are?
Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic
We are all victims of our lives, and we cannot change what we do in the aftermath; we can only try to make up for it. Nor can we change the minds of all those who have come to see us as they wrongly believe us to be. Some can never forget. Some beliefs are fixed in stone.
Terry Brooks, The Last Druid
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
Jack London
When so much is being thrown at you, when there is so much you could be thinking about or doing, the strength to tune it out and do the one thing that must be done is essential.
Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic Email, 4/16/2021
If you’ve lost your job, if you went through a painful breakup, if you’ve been forced to start over, if your sandcastle or your ship has been swallowed up—congratulations, you’ve been gifted a remarkable opportunity. You get to choose the life you want to build. Well done, Fortune, to drive you thus to the life you’ve always wanted.
Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic Email, 8/10/2021