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stoicism-vs-hedonism Quotes

Stoicism and Hedonism represent two of the most enduring and diametrically opposed frameworks for understanding the good life in Western philosophy.

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
Viktor Frankl
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Source: Book: Man's Search for Meaning

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"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."
Seneca
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Source: Letter: Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13

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"The obstacle is the way."
ryan holiday
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Source: Book: The Obstacle Is The Way

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"The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition."
ryan holiday
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Source: Book: The Obstacle Is the Way

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"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."
Seneca
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Source: Letter: Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium

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"A happy person isn't someone who's happy all the time. It's someone who effortlessly interprets events in such a way that they don't lose their innate peace."
Naval Ravikant
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Source: Book: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

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"One should always be drunk. That's all that matters... But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk."
Charles Baudelaire
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Source: Poem: Paris Spleen

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"You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."
Marcus Aurelius
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Source: Book: Meditations, Book 4

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"Man conquers the world by conquering himself."
Zeno of Citium
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Source: Biography: Lives of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

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"To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life."
Walter Pater
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Source: Book: The Renaissance

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"The pleasure principle... draws up the programme of life's purpose."
Sigmund Freud
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Source: Book: Civilization and Its Discontents

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"Pleasure is the beginning and the end of living happily."
Epicurus
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Source: Letter: Letter to Menoeceus

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"I possess, but am not possessed."
Aristippus
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Source: Biography: Lives of the Eminent Philosophers

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"The goal of Stoic practice is not to suppress emotion, but to cultivate the right kind of emotion."
Massimo Pigliucci
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Source: Book: How to Be a Stoic

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"Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."
John Stuart Mill
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Source: Book: Utilitarianism

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"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure."
Jeremy Bentham
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Source: Book: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation

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"Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again."
Robert Heinlein
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Source: Book: Time Enough for Love

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"Ah, fill the Cup: - what boots it to repeat / How Time is slipping underneath our Feet: / Unborn TO-MORROW and dead YESTERDAY, / Why fret about them if TO-DAY be sweet!"
Omar Khayyam
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Source: Poem: The Rubáiyát

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"Happiness is a good flow of life."
Zeno of Citium
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Source: Book: Lives of the Eminent Philosophers

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"Stoicism is about the domestication of emotions, not the elimination of emotions."
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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Source: Book: Antifragile

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"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."
Epictetus
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Source: Book: Fragments

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"If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures."
Musonius Rufus
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Source: Lecture: Lectures and Fragments

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"You must be drunk always... With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you please. But get drunk."
Charles Baudelaire
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Source: Poem: Paris Spleen

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"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself."
Oscar Wilde
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Source: Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray

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"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality."
James Stockdale
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Source: Book: Good to Great

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"It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give happiness."
Thomas Jefferson
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Source: Letter: Letter to Mrs. A.S. Marks

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"Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter, sermons and soda water the day after."
Lord Byron
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Source: Poem: Don Juan

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"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. (Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow.)"
Horace
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Source: Poem: Odes

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"Whatever you do, do it for the joy it brings you, for the pleasure of the action itself."
Alan Watts
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Source: Lecture: The Nature of Consciousness

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"While life remains, let a man live happily, let him feed on ghee even though he runs in debt."
Charvaka
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Source: Book: Sarvadarsanasamgraha

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"It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."
Epictetus
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Source: Book: The Enchiridion

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"No pleasure is a bad thing in itself, but the things which produce certain pleasures bring troubles many times greater than the pleasures."
Lucretius
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Source: Book: De Rerum Natura

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"Don't demand that things happen as you wish, but wish that they happen as they do happen, and you will go on well."
Epictetus
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Source: Book: Enchiridion

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"Drink! for you know not whence you came, nor why: Drink! for you know not why you go, nor where."
Omar Khayyam
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Source: Poem: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

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"I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid."
Cato the Younger
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Source: Biography: Plutarch's Lives

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"The Church is meant to be a family where celibate individuals find belonging and purpose."
Side B Community
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Source: Inspired by: Ecclesiology

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"Suffering is a choice. You choose to suffer."
Seneca (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Moral Letters to Lucilius

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"We are called to chastity, which is an aspect of love, not its negation."
Wesley Hill (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Spiritual Friendship

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"The only thing that isn't up to us is what's outside our reasoned choice."
Epictetus (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Enchiridion

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"Celibacy is not a lack of love, but a reorientation of love towards God and neighbor."
Side B Advocacy
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Source: Inspired by: Christian Sexual Ethics

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"True pleasure is found in the absence of pain and the tranquility of mind."
Epicurus
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Source: Inspired by: Letter to Menoeceus

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"He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."
Socrates (Stoic concept)
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Source: Inspired by: Ancient Philosophy

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"My desire for intimacy is real, but its fulfillment is found in Christ and community, not necessarily sexual union."
Proponents of Side B
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Source: Inspired by: Personal Testimony

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"Our longing for union is ultimately for God, and celibacy can sharpen that spiritual desire."
Side B Theology
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Source: Inspired by: Spiritual Longing

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"Through prayer and community, we find strength to live out our call to celibacy joyfully."
Side B Spiritual Practice
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Source: Inspired by: Spiritual Discipline

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"The cross calls us to die to self, including our sexual desires, for a greater spiritual good."
Christian Celibacy Theology
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Source: Inspired by: Theological Principle

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"Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance."
Epicurus (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Principal Doctrines

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"Side B acknowledges the reality of same-sex attraction while upholding traditional Christian sexual ethics."
Definition of Side B
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Source: Inspired by: Ethical Stance

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"Side B is about finding a flourishing life within the bounds of Christian discipleship, not about denying our humanity."
Side B Philosophy
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Source: Inspired by: Human Flourishing

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"Sickness of the soul is worse than sickness of the body."
Epicurus
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Source: Inspired by: Fragment 221

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"The celibate life, lived for Christ, is a prophetic witness in a hypersexualized world."
Side B Advocacy
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Source: Inspired by: Social Witness

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"Control your perceptions. Redirect your actions. Master your will."
Marcus Aurelius (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Meditations

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"Side B is about living a full, rich, celibate life in Christ, not merely enduring a lack."
Eve Tushnet (paraphrased)
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Source: Inspired by: Gay and Catholic

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"Our identity in Christ transcends our sexual attractions, calling us to a higher purpose."
Side B Theology
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Source: Inspired by: Theological Anthropology

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"The greatest good is to live in conformity with nature."
Zeno of Citium (concept)
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Source: Inspired by: Stoic Philosophy

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"Chastity is not a burden, but a path to freedom and deeper devotion to Christ."
Side B Spiritual Formation
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Source: Inspired by: Personal Growth

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"Friendship, not romance, can be the primary vessel for deep intimacy and love for Side B Christians."
Side B Advocacy
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Source: Inspired by: Community Building

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"To embrace celibacy is to trust God's plan for our lives, even when it diverges from societal norms."
Christian Celibacy Theology
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Source: Inspired by: Faith and Obedience

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"Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when death does come, we no longer exist."
Epicurus
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Source: Inspired by: Letter to Menoeceus

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Why these quotes matter

This comparison matters because it frames the modern struggle between gratification and discipline. Understanding these distinct operating systems helps individuals define their core values and choose a path that leads to sustainable fulfillment rather than fleeting satisfaction.

How to apply them daily

In decision-making, use Stoicism when facing unavoidable hardships or when duty requires self-sacrifice. Conversely, apply Hedonistic principles (specifically Epicurean prudence) when prioritizing mental health, rest, and the cultivation of joy in a balanced life.

"Ultimately, while they appear mutually exclusive, a modern synthesis often involves Stoic resilience to handle life's storms and Hedonistic appreciation to savor its calms."