“When driving by certain places that played a painful role in my past life, I used to get a feeling of dread and think to myself βthank God Iβm not π΅π©π¦π³π¦ anymore.β Now, I get a feeling of gratitude and think to myself βthank God I π¨π°π΅ to be there, because it allowed me to be π©π¦π³π¦ today.'” β Phil Van Treuren
Because suffering is an unavoidable part of the human experience and worries many of us, we can find many helpful quotes about it from the Stoics. Practicing Stoicism doesn’t make us immune to pain, hardships and suffering . . . but it can help us re-frame our view of it and keep it from affecting us any more than it has to.
Remember, the ancient Stoic philosophers who are quoted here experienced more suffering in their lives than any of us are likely to in modern times. Losing loved ones, experiencing early death and incurable illnesses were realities of life for these Stoics who lived nearly two thousand years ago.
You aren’t weak because of the suffering you go through, and no one is completely immune to pain and hardship. But when you face these challenges, it’s good to have a frame of mind that lets you prevent it from causing you suffering before it ever even happens.
Stoic Quotes on Suffering & Pain from Marcus Aurelius
“It will suffice thee to remember as concerning pain . . . that the mind may, by stopping all manner of commerce and sympathy with the body, still retain its own tranquility.”
“When pain is unbearable it destroys us; when it does not it is bearable.”
“In the case of most pains let this remark of Epicurus aid you: that the pain is neither intolerable nor everlasting, if you bear in mind that it has its limits, and if you add nothing to it in imagination.”
Stoic Quotes on Suffering & Pain from Epictetus
“Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.”
“I must die. I must be imprisoned. I must suffer exile. But must I die groaning? Must I whine as well? Can anyone hinder me from going into exile with a smile? The master threatens to chain me: what say you? Chain me? My leg you will chain–yes, but not my will–no, not even Zeus can conquer that.”
Stoic Quotes on Suffering & Pain from Seneca
“We suffer more often in our imagination than we do in reality.”
“He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.“
“Some things torment us more than they ought; some torment us before they ought; and some torment us when they ought not to torment us at all. We are in the habit of exaggerating, or imagining, or anticipating, sorrow.”