Quotations from Greek and Roman philosophers that illustrate the origins and practice of Stoicism and the pursuit of the Good Life. A complete course in Stoicism including cultural background, chronology, examples, and Arrian’s notes. Largest source for classical quotations. Aide memoire to locate a given text or idea.

The following passages is an excerpt from The Stoic’s Bible:

THE SEVEN SAGES
6th c. B.C.

SOURCE: as noted.

On being asked what is difficult: To know oneself. What is easy? To give advice to another. What is pleasant? Success. What is divine? That which has neither beginning nor end. The strangest thing he had ever seen? An aged tyrant. Thales of Miletus. D.L.I. pp.37, 39.

How shall we lead the best and most righteous life? By refraining from doing what we blame in others. Thales. D.L.I. p.39.

To Thales belongs the proverb: KNOW THYSELF. D.L.I. p.41.

One should say what is probable and shroud in silence that which is impossible. Thales. PL. Mor .2, p.429. Read more…

The history of the tablets translated in the following pages is strange and beyond the belief of modern scientists. Their antiquity is stupendous, dating back some 36,000 years B.C. The writer is Thoth, an Atlantean Priest-King, who founded a colony in ancient Egypt after the sinking of the mother country. He was the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, erroneously attributed to Cheops. In it he incorporated his knowledge of the ancient wisdom and also securely secreted records and instruments of ancient Atlantis.

For some 16,000 years, he ruled the ancient race of Egypt, from approximately 52,000 B.C. to 36,000 B.C. At that time, the ancient barbarous race among which he and his followers had settled had been raised to a high degree of civilization. Thoth was an immortal, that is, he had conquered death, passing only when he willed and even then not through death. His vast wisdom made him ruler over the various Atlantean colonies, including the ones in South and Central America.

When the time came for him to leave Egypt, he erected the Great Pyramid over the entrance to the Great Halls of Amenti, placed in it his records, and appointed guards for his secrets from among the highest of his people.

In later times, the descendants of these guards became the pyramid priests, by which Thoth was deified as the God of Wisdom, The Recorder, by those in the age of darkness which followed his passing. In legend, the Halls of Amenti became the underworld, the Halls of the gods, where the soul passed after death for judgment.

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Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. These beliefs have heavily influenced the Western esoteric tradition and were considered greatly important during both the Renaissance and the Reformation.

The following short video presents a history of secret Western esoteric path of Hermeticism narrated by Christopher Warnock of the website Renaissance Astrology.

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The Epistulae morales ad Lucilium is a bundle of 124 letters which were written by Seneca the Younger at the end of his life. These letters all start with the phrase “Seneca Lucilio suo salutem” (Seneca greets his Lucilius) and end with the word “Vale” (Farewell). In these letters, Seneca gives Lucilius tips on how to become a more devoted Stoic. Lucilius was, at that time, the Governor of Sicily, although he is known only through Seneca’s writings. Some of the letters include “On Noise” and “Asthma”. Others include letters on “the influence of the masses” and “how to deal with one’s slaves”. Although they deal with Seneca’s eclectic form of Stoic philosophy, they also give us valuable insights in the daily life in ancient Rome.

-From Wikipedia

Volume 1 of 3 in the collection (Epistles 1-65)

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One of the greatest essayists of the Graeco-Roman world, Plutarch (c. AD 46 -120) used an encyclopedic knowledge of the Roman Empire to produce a compelling and individual voice. Plutarch offers personal insights into moral subjects that include the virtue of listening, the danger of flattery and the avoidance of anger, alongside more speculative essays on themes as diverse as God’s slowness to punish man, the use of reason by supposedly ‘irrational’ animals and the death of his own daughter. Brilliantly informed, these essays offer a treasure-trove of ancient wisdom, myth and philosophy, and a powerful insight into a deeply intelligent man.

In these massive 5 volume work Plutarch muses on all manner of topics ranging from virtue and vice, friendship, flattery, the nature of love, stoic philosophy, fate, to the nature of government.

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Collected here are the complete works of Plato, in the classic translation by Benjamin Jowett. One of the most influential thinkers of Ancient Greece or any other era, Plato formed the basis of Western philosophy. Mostly written in the form of dialogues with his teacher Socrates as the protagonist, his works address themes as varied as metaphysics, psychology, pedagogy, politics, and ethics. Despite the weighty subject matter, Plato’s writing remains accessible to the general reader, and infused with wit and humor. Why is Plato worth reading today? His dialogues are vitally concerned with how we should live. His arguments always have an engagement with life. He combines the logical rigor of a philosopher with the imagination and artistry of a poet. In short, despite the passage of thousands of years, Plato remains relevant and compelling.

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