21 Stoic Quotes On Living, Investing, And Having Enough
Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool. — Seneca
Stoicism was school of philosophy born in Athens in the early 3rd Century BC. It’s wisdom is over 2,000 years old, and yet still today Stoic wisdom is still read, reflected on and incorporated into many people’s everyday life, perhaps because of the focus on logic, ethics and personal responsibility.
Often stoic literature focuses on how we can become better people and lead better lives. It is only natural that all matters of the everyday are considered, and wealth, lifestyle design, and contentment are threads that run through many Stoic scriptures. Still today the Stoics challenge us to life more mindfully and become happier by focusing on what really matters.
I decided to collect some of my favourite quotes and share them with you because I want this publication to be about more than just money. Many people on their journey to FI/RE focus on a number in some distant future and pin their happiness to that. But the journey to FI/RE should be more important than getting there, and we should focus on our present (with a distant eye to the future). Life is fleeting and to sacrifice your health and happiness today, for money in the distant future is not the true purpose of FI/RE. The purpose is to have enough to allow you to focus on the things that matter. To reclaim your time for deeper meaning.
The feeling of contentment cannot be bought, nor can the action of doing the right thing or feeling proud of your work. In life (and in investing) we need patience, reflection and time to grow. The focus should always be on the journey and not the end goal, and we should strive to be mindful and humble, to reign in our egos. And this is why, regardless of if you have $100 or $1,000,000 in your bank account, Stoic wisdom should be applied.
The following 21 quotes should be savoured, reflected upon and applied to your life and your finances. Write down the quotes that stir your soul the most and display it somewhere prominent. Feel free to save this article and return to it, for each time you read the quotes they are sure to stir up calmness and wisdom. After all, they survived and are still relevant today, 2,000 years after being written.
Stoic Advice on Living a Good Life
How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself? — Epictetus
People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills; and you too are especially inclined to feel this desire. But this is altogether unphilosophical, when it is possible for you to retreat into yourself at any time you want. There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind, especially if he has within himself the kind of thoughts that let him dip into them and so at once gain complete ease of mind; and by ease of mind, I mean nothing but having one’s own mind in good order. — Marcus Aurelius
Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it. — Epictetus
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One. — Marcus Aurelius
For those who follow nature, everything is easy and straightforward, whereas for those who fight against her life is just like rowing against the stream. — Seneca
Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go. — Marcus Aurelius
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do — Epictetus
…the wise man is neither raised up by prosperity nor cast down by adversity; for always he has striven to rely predominantly on himself, and to derive all joy from himself. — Seneca
Stoic Advice on Investing
We should not, like sheep, follow the herd of creatures in front of us, making our way where others go, not where we ought to go. — Seneca
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth. — Marcus Aurelius
No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. — Epictetus
It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters. — Seneca
Learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference. — Marcus Aurelius
Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too. — Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Advice on Having Enough
All human beings seek the happy life, but many confuse the means- for example, wealth and status- with that life itself. This misguided focus on the means to a good life makes people get further from the happy life. The really worthwhile things are the virtuous activities that make up the happy life, not the external means that may seem to produce it. — Epictetus
Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool. — Seneca
Contentment comes not so much from great wealth as from few wants. — Epictetus
What difference does it make how much there is laid away in a man’s safe or in his barns, how many head of stock he grazes or how much capital he puts out at interest, if he is always after what is another’s and only counts what he has yet to get, never what he has already. You ask what is the proper limit to a person’s wealth? First, having what is essential, and second, having what is enough. — Seneca
The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away. — Marcus Aurelius
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor. — Seneca
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. –Epictetus
If you have a favourite quote that you live by, please add it to the comments, I would love to read it. I wish to end this article with one final quote, from a modern day Stoic philosopher (and author) Ryan Holiday, as it is a quote that deeply resonates with me;
The more things we desire and the more we have to do to earn or attain those achievements, the less we actually enjoy our lives — and the less free we are.
