Bitter cucumber? Toss it. Thorns on the trail? Step around.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.50
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Quotes about calm
A quiet mind and a simple life, from the Stoics, the Tao and the Greeks.
- Bitter cucumber? Toss it. Thorns on the trail? Step around.Marcus Aurelius
- Know yourself.Delphic maxim
- A calm mind is a citadel.Marcus Aurelius
- Everything has two handles. Grab the one you can carry.Epictetus
- Nothing in excess.Delphic maxim
- Stop asking how you look to others.Marcus Aurelius
- Do nothing that serves no purpose.Miyamoto Musashi
- Good walkers leave no tracks.Lao Tzu
- Everyone follows what happens. Only you can follow it willingly.Marcus Aurelius
- A happy life takes very little.Marcus Aurelius
- Don't get angry at things. They don't care.Marcus Aurelius
- Thirty spokes, one hub. The empty center makes it roll.Lao Tzu
Wear them
Know yourself.
Delphic maxim, Delphic inscription (Plato, Protagoras 343b)
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A calm mind is a citadel.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.48
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Everything has two handles. Grab the one you can carry.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 43
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ΜΗΔΕΝ ΑΓΑΝ
Delphic maxim, Delphic inscription (Plato, Protagoras 343b)
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All 173
173 lines
Everything has two handles. Grab the one you can carry.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 43
ΜΗΔΕΝ ΑΓΑΝ
Delphic maxim, Delphic inscription (Plato, Protagoras 343b)
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.48
Bitter cucumber? Toss it. Thorns on the trail? Step around.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.50
ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ
Delphic maxim, Delphic inscription (Plato, Protagoras 343b)
Heraclitus, Fragment 80
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.24
Knocked off rhythm? Get back in tune fast.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.11
In the fight, keep your everyday mind.
Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, Water (The Mind in Strategy)
Knowing a lot doesn't teach understanding.
Heraclitus, Fragment B40 (Diels-Kranz)
A happy life takes very little.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.67
无用之用
Everyone knows the use of the useful. Few see the use of the useless.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 4 (Man in the World, Associated with Other Men)
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 27
Empty all the way. Hold steady in stillness.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 16
No disaster is worse than never having enough.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 46
Thirty spokes, one hub. The empty center makes it roll.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 11
Spilled oil? Stolen wine? That's the price of calm. Nothing's free.
Epictetus, Enchiridion 12
Stop asking how you look to others.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.1
Want little. Work with your hands.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 1.5
Keep your temple. I'll drag my tail in the mud.
Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi 17 (The Floods of Autumn)
Don't wait for a perfect world. Celebrate the smallest thing going right.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.29
Socrates, Diogenes Laertius 2.25
Where the lion skin won't reach, stitch on the fox.
Lysander, Plutarch, Sayings of Spartans, Lysander 3 (229b)
What did philosophy give me? I can keep myself company.
Antisthenes, Diogenes Laertius 6.6
Questions
- Where do these quotes about calm come from?
- Each of the 173 lines links to its own page with the book and passage it comes from, the original-language wording and how it was translated. Nothing is attributed without a source.
- Can I get these quotes on a shirt?
- Yes. 5 of them are printed on our tees and caps, with the Spartan Surfers helmet and our coordinates on every piece. 2 pieces 10% off, 3 pieces 15%, 4 or more 20%. Free US shipping on everything.