Major Roman Stoic Philosophers, My Favorite Maxims: Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca & Marcus Aurelius

Today we will reflect on my favorite sayings of the Roman Stoic
philosophers.
Many of the writings of the Stoics sound like passages from the Pauline
Epistles. Indeed, Seneca was a contemporary of St Paul. There are epistles
written between them, though nearly all scholars think they are spurious.
Was St Paul inspired by the Stoic writings of Seneca? Although the Jewish
rabbinic tradition was the primary source of inspiration for the Epistles
and the Gospels, stoicism was an important secondary influence. In
particular, stoicism deeply influenced the desert monastic tradition, which
in turn influenced medieval monasticism.
All of these sayings have been covered in our prior videos on Stoicism, this
is a collection of my favorite maxims.

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
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used for this video.
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Translations by Robin Waterfield

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The main stoic Roman stoic philosophers were Epictetus, a former slave
who lived in poverty; Musonius Rufus, his exiled teacher; Seneca, tutor
and eventual victim of Emperor Nero, one of the wealthiest Romans of
his day; and Marcus Aurelius, who was Roman Emperor. The Roman
Stoic philosophers came from all walks of life.

Epictetus: Former Slave of a Former Slave
Epictetus tells us of someone
who stole his lamp one night, he
got the better end of the
exchange. For Epictetus only lost
his lamp, but he kept his faith.
The man who stole his lamp, in
exchange for the lamp he
consented to become a thief,
becoming faithless.

https://youtu.be/Dhd543kov-E
Epictetus tells us, “Forgiveness is better
than revenge. Forgiveness shows
gentleness, revenge shows savagery.”

What does Epictetus say about friendship and
love? “He who knows good knows how to love,
but he who cannot tell good from bad, nor tell
what is neither good nor bad from both, how can
he love? Only the wise know how to love.”
How does Epictetus describe the true friend?
“He will bear with the man who is unlike himself,
he will be kind to him, gentle, ready to pardon
on account of his ignorance, not being harsh to
any man, being convinced of Plato’s doctrine
that every mind is deprived of truth unwillingly.”

Epictetus warns us that men should
not behave like animals. “It is enough
for animals to eat and drink and
copulate and all the other things
they do. But for us men, to whom
God has gifted the intellect, these
things are not sufficient, for unless
we act in a proper and orderly
manner according to our nature, we
shall never attain our true end.”

Epictetus praises God for an entirely different and
opposing gift. Epictetus boldly asks of God, “Send
now, O God, any trial that Thou wishes; for You have
given me the means and the power to acquit myself
with honor through whatever trials come to pass!”
But instead, how do most face the trials in their life?
Few encounter life’s challenges with such bravado,
for Epictetus upbraids his students, “there you sit,
trembling for fear for what may come to pass, and
moaning and groaning and lamenting over what
does come to pass. And then blame the Almighty
God. Such meanness of spirit can have one result:
Impiety.”
Epictetus disputing with Hadrian, Bodleian Library, 1436

Musonius Rufus: Teacher of Epictetus

Musonius Rufus originally taught in a school of
philosophy in Rome, but was exiled first by Nero,
and after he returned, he was again exiled by
Emperor Vespasian. He was the teacher of both
Epictetus and Dio Chrysostom.

Rufus asks: “Who suffers more, the
person who is wronged, or the
wrong-doer? The wrong-doer suffers
shame, not the wronged.” Rufus tells
us that it is petty to count wrongs like
sheep, if he is virtuous the wronged
“will calmly and quietly bear what
has happened, since that is how the
magnanimous behave.” “Plotting how
to bite back someone who bites and
return evil against the evil-doer is
characteristic of a beast, not a man.”

https://youtu.be/2Ft0YOjfbP8
The most important question Rufus asks is, “How
can exile be an obstacle to the acquisition of virtue,
when no one was ever hindered from the knowledge
and practice of what is needful because of exile?”

https://www.divorcecare.org/
Please, if you anyone who is facing divorce, let them know support is available.
In the modern world,
divorce is a type of exile.

On Exile, Rufus concludes, “Certainly the exile is
not prevented from possessing courage and
justice simply because he is banished, nor is he
denied self-control, or any virtue that brings
honor and benefit to the man with a good
reputation and worthy of praise.”

Rufus continues, “If you are good, you will never be
harmed or degraded by exile, for your virtues will
help you and sustain you. But if you are bad, it is the
evil that harms you and not exile, and the misery
you feel in exile is the product of evil, not of exile.”

Rufus advises us:
“Speak of shameful things, and you will
lose your reluctance to do them.”
“If you work hard to do what is right, do
not be upset by roadblocks.”
“You will deserve respect from everyone
if you start by respecting yourself.”
“Only the man who learns to want
nothing in every circumstance is truly
wealthy.”
“Don’t expect to tell others what they
should do when they know that you do
what you shouldn’t.”

Many consider the teachings of St Augustine as
rather strict, but if you compare his teachings on
concupiscence, or on love and lust, the writings of
Musonius Rufus are more severe.

Seneca: Wealthy Roman, Victim of Nero
Nero and Seneca, Eduardo Barron, 1904

While Epictetus was a destitute former slave, Seneca was one of the
wealthiest citizens of Rome. He was Nero’s tutor and an advisor early in
his reign, and Nero in his early years was a competent emperor. When
Nero became unhinged, Seneca then retired to a remote estate. After
Nero murdered both his wife and his mother, Seneca knew the time
would come when soldiers came to his door to compel him to commit
suicide for a suspected participation in some plot.
Since he was a wealthy aristocrat, Seneca admired the works of
Epicurus, who praised pleasure in moderation. On the other hand,
Epictetus despised Epicurus, viewing his philosophy as encouraging
hedonism.

Seneca then shares a thought he learned from
Epicurus, “Contented poverty is an honorable
estate.” Seneca adds that this is not poverty at all,
for “it is not the man who has too little, but the man
who craves more, that is poor. What does it matter
how much a man has laid up in his safe, or in his
warehouse, how large are his flocks or how fat his
dividends, if he covets his neighbor’s property, and
reckons, not his past gains, but his hopes of gains to
come?”
Seneca advises us, “Live among men as if God beheld
you; speak with God as if men were listening.”
Seneca bounces back, “Life is not worth living” if we
multiply our sorrows with our worries. Instead,
“temper your fear with hope.”

“Philosophy is the study of wisdom, for as Seneca
writes, “no man can live a happy life without the
study of wisdom.”
You must study philosophy every day, “you must
persevere, you must develop new strength by
continuous study, until that which is only a good
inclination becomes a good habit.” “Philosophy
molds and constructs the soul; it orders our life,
guides our conduct, shows us what we should
do and what we should leave undone;
philosophy sits at the helm of our ship and
directs our course as we waver amid the
uncertainties of life. Without philosophy, no one
can live fearlessly or in peace of mind.”

What is joy? Seneca
answers, “Real joy is a stern
matter.” Real joy endures
poverty, endures suffering,
endures pain. Real joy is
not idle laughter, real joy
does not chase passing
pleasures. “Pleasure,
unless it is controlled,
tends to rush headlong
into the abyss of sorrow.”
Seneca quotes Epicurus,
“The knowledge of sin is
the beginning of
salvation.”

Seneca explains, “He who does not know that he has sinned does not
desire correction; you must discover yourself in the wrong before you
can reform yourself. Some boast of their faults. Do you think that the
man has any thought of mending his ways who holds up his vices as
if they were his virtues? Therefore, prove yourself guilty, hunt up
charges against yourself. Play the part first of accuser, then of judge,
last of intercessor. At times be harsh with yourself.”
Seneca says “every honorable act is voluntary. But if the honorable
act is done with reluctance, complaints, cowardice, or fear, it loses
its best characteristic – self-approval.”

Seneca says, “Learning virtue means unlearning vice. We must
free ourselves from our faults with courage, for once we attain it
the good can be an everlasting possession; virtue is not
unlearned.” “The mind must be forced to make the first step, but
from then one the medicine is not bitter.”
“That which is honorable is the only good, all other goods are
alloyed and debased.” When you “love virtue with devotion, for
mere loving is not enough, anything that has been touched by
virtue will be fraught with blessing and prosperity for you, no
matter how it shall be regarded by others.”

All the sufferings of life “which
others regard as ills will become
manageable and will end in
good, if you succeed in rising
above them.”
Seneca quotes Socrates, “Allow
any man who wishes to insult you
and harm you, but if only virtue
dwells within you, you will suffer
nothing.”
Indeed, Seneca says the wise man
is happy in his sufferings, “for
unless a man is happy, he has not
attained the Supreme Good. If
only virtue exists in a man, and if
adversity does not impair his
virtue, and though the body be
injured, virtue abides unharmed.”

How should the good man keep
his scorecard? “The good man
voluntarily cheats himself by
adding to the benefits he
receives and subtracting from
the injuries he suffers.”
Who truly benefits from our
kindness? “The reward for all
virtues lies in the virtues
themselves.” Virtues do not
seek recognition or plaques or
even encouragement, “the
wages of a good deed lie in the
doing of the deed.” “The
reward for all virtues lies in the
virtues themselves.”

https://youtu.be/wgD8skYi3I0
Seneca affirms, “I am grateful, not so my
neighbor should reward me for my act of
kindness, but rather I am grateful to
perform acts of loving kindness; I feel
grateful, not to profit from my kindness,
but for the pleasure of being kind.”
Seneca says, “Let us avoid being
ungrateful, not for the sake of others but
for our own sake.”

Likewise, Seneca warns, “evil drinks
the largest portion of her own poison.”
“When we do wrong, only the least
portion flows back upon our neighbor,
the worst and densest portion blows
back, troubling us instead.”

Apollo and Mars, by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1700s
Seneca says that “wisdom lends grace to
every benefit and delights her soul by
recollecting the benefit.” But the wise man
“takes delight not so much from receiving
the gift as in having received it, and this joy
never perishes, abiding always.”

“Though the wise man may despise
the wrongs done to him, he forgets
them, not accidentally, but
voluntarily. The wise man does not
put a wrong construction upon
everything, or seek someone to
blame, but rather he ascribes even
the sins of men to chance. The wise
man will not misinterpret a word or
a look, he makes light of all mishaps
by interpreting them generously. He
does not remember the injury,
rather, the wise man remembers
the earlier and better deed,” except
when the bad deeds overwhelm the
good deeds.

https://youtu.be/m4mcP2F9c4w
Seneca tells us, “The first and worst
penalty of sin is to have committed sin,”
and although the thief may grow rich
through crime, though Fortune may
protect the thief, “crime never goes
unpunished, since the punishment lies in
committing the crime itself,” for the
criminal lives in “constant fear, constant
terror,” never secure, never sleeping
peacefully, always wakened by the pangs
of conscience. “Even men who hide their
sins can never count on remaining
hidden, for their conscience convicts
them and reveals them to themselves.”

Apollo and Mars, by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1700s
Seneca tells us, “The soul is more powerful
than Fortune, on its own the soul can produce
a happy life or a wretched life.” “A bad man
makes everything bad, but an upright and
honest man can correct the wrongs of Fortune,
softening hardship and bitterness through
endurance, accepting prosperity with
appreciation and moderation, standing up to
troubles with steadfastness and courage.”

Seneca says, “Let all your thoughts be
turned as far as possible from your
personal interests. You need not look
about for the reward of a just deed; a just
deed in itself offers a still greater return.
Remember this, it makes no difference
how many are aware of your
righteousness. If you wish your virtue to
be advertised, you are not striving for
virtue but for praise.”

“Money never made a man rich; it
always smites men with a greater
craving for wealth.” “We are unequal
at birth but are equal in death.”
“Vices are never genuinely tamed.”
Like lions and tigers, “it is easier to stop
vices in the beginning than to control
them when they gather force.” “We are
in love with our vices, we uphold them
and prefer to make excuses for them
rather than shake them off.”

Seneca comments in his letter on Old Age, “If
God is pleased to add to our lives another day,
we should welcome it with glad hearts. That
man is happiest, and is secure in his own
possession of himself. When a man had said ‘I
have lived!’, every morning he awakes he
receives a bonus.”
Seneca reflects on his retirement, “Life is most
delightful when it is on the downward slope but
has not reached the abrupt decline.”
Seneca says, “It is as foolish to fear death as to
fear old age; for death follows old age precisely
as old age follows youth.”

Marcus Aurelius: Stoic Roman Emperor

Marcus Aurelius was the last of the Good Emperors, the
five Emperors who did not inherit the throne but were
rather considered to be the best man for the office when
they were adopted by their predecessors. His predecessors
Hadrian and Antoninus Pius tutored him with the most
renowned Stoic teachers. But also, this philosopher-king
did not live up to Plato’s expectations, as his son
Commodus was as wicked and foolish as was Nero, except
the Commodus did not persecute the Christians.

Marcus Aurelius advises us to “begin the
morning by saying to yourself, I shall
meet with the busybody, the ungrateful,
arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All
these things happen to them because
they are ignorant of what is good and
evil.” “I can neither be injured by any of
these, for no one can fix on me what is
ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman,
nor hate him.”
“Since it is possible that you might
depart from life this very moment,
regulate every act and thought
accordingly.”

Marcus Aurelius: “Good and evil happen
indiscriminately to the good and the bad.”
“Death and life, honor and dishonor, pain and
pleasure: all these things happen equally to
good men and bad, being things which make us
neither better nor worse. Therefore, they are
neither good nor evil.”
“Do not act as if you were going to live ten
thousand years. Death hangs over you. While
you live, while it is in your power, live a godly
life.” “Take away the complaint, ‘I have been
harmed,’ and the harm is taken away.”
Bust of young Marcus Aurelius from Capitoline Museum

The Meditations counsel us to “be like
the rock against which the waves
continually break; but it stands firm and
tames the fury of the waters around it.
Do not say, ‘I am unhappy, because this
has happened to me.’ But rather say, ‘I
am happy, though this has happened to
me, because I continue free from pain,
neither crushed by the present nor
fearing the future.’”
Marcus Aurelius reminds us: “Your
habitual thoughts will determine the
character of your mind, for the soul is
dyed by your thoughts.”

Likewise, Marcus Aurelius observes, “it is
peculiar to man to love even those who do
wrong,” for the wrongdoers “are fellow
humans who do wrong through ignorance,
often unintentionally,” and like us they will
also soon die. “Above all, the wrongdoer
has done you no harm” for he cannot steal
your virtue and goodness.”
Marcus Aurelius continues, “it is your duty
to pardon those who wrong you,” they
may be mistaken, they may be deluded
into thinking they have actually done what
is right. “If any man has done wrong, he
harms himself. But perhaps he has not
done wrong.”

Roman generals and emperors, National Galleries of Scotland, by William Brassey Hole, 1897
Marcus Aurelius proposes, “Suppose any man shall despise me,” let him worry about
that. But my concern is rather that I not do or say anything in response that is
contemptible. “Shall any man hate me? That will be his affair. But I will be mild and
benevolent toward every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not
reproachfully, not yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly.”

Marcus Aurelius observes, “God
sees into the minds and hearts of
all men bared naked of vestments
and rind and impurities.”
“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is
not true, do not say it,” do not even
think that which is not true.
“Does the light of the lamp shine
without losing its splendor until it is
extinguished; and shall the truth
that is in you and justice and
temperance be extinguished before
your death?”

Marcus Aurelius bids us to “Love
mankind, follow God,” which is
very close to: Love God, and love
your neighbor.
“It is man’s special gift to love
even those who fall into blunders,
that sin is ignorance and
unintentional,” this is a Platonic
concept, “that in a little while we
shall both be dead, and above all,
no injury has been done to us;
our inner self is not made worse
than it was before.”

One of our most reflections was on whether Marcus Aurelius was
a friend or foe of Christians. This was prompted by a spurious
epistle credited to Marcus Aurelius in the Ante-Nicene Church
Fathers extolling Christianity, and a mention of a possibly
spurious account by the ancient Church historian Eusebius that
Marcus Aurelius credited the Christian God for a battlefield
miracle against the Germanic tribes. We later looked into this
question further, reflecting on the biographies of Marcus
Aurelius, modern and ancient, and on the history of Christian
persecutions.

https://youtu.be/-uQxq1O9xSY
https://youtu.be/nvWYu8ofhCA https://youtu.be/9THdbyx-jHU
https://youtu.be/7xEeggL9wKs

We also reflected on the biography of his wayward
son, Emperor Commodus, who endangered the
Roman Empire by his incompetence and cruelty.

The modern biographies of Marcus Aurelius also
provided enough background information for
reflections on prior Roman Emperors, Ordinary Life
for Romans during his reign, and additional
information on the ancient warrior cultures of
Greece, Israel, and Rome.

https://youtu.be/7QAZ_s6zw4E https://youtu.be/9xKxqAbJ2qY
https://youtu.be/9hgSbcgbCJw
https://youtu.be/6i--hVIpg1k

The Stoic Six Pack includes the writings of Seneca and Epictetus,
but their translation of Marcus Aurelius I found unintelligible, so I
used the Dover Thrift Edition. These are also available free on the
internet. The stoics were the self-help gurus of the ancient world,
their works are both fun and easy to read, as you can tell from
this video.
My advice is when you purchase books by ancient philosophers is
to search for those translated and comment by Robin Waterfield.
I learned of him through my studies of Xenophon. His footnotes
are invaluable, and his other books are excellent background on
the ancient world.

Professor Luke Timothy Johnson turned me on to
reading the stoic philosophers, we highly
recommend these Great Courses lectures, they are
not included in the Wondrium collection. These
lectures changes my perspective on life.

Purchase from Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3rmSlOx

For an affordable annual subscription, you can also
access these works in the Loeb Classic Library,
which includes their English translations as well as
the original Greek and Latin.

https://www.meetup.com/Reflections/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLqDkfFbWhXOnzdjp__YZtg/

Major Roman Stoic Philosophers, My Favorite Maxims: Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca & Marcus Aurelius

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Major Roman Stoic Philosophers, My Favorite Maxims: Epictetus, Rufus, Seneca & Marcus Aurelius