9 Stoic Quotes That Erase Fear in an Instant
Fear is a powerful emotion that can often hold us back,
clouding our judgment and limiting our potential.
While it’s a natural feeling, finding ways to quickly move past
it is essential for living a full and peaceful life.
The ancient philosophy of Stoicism offers timeless,
practical wisdom for exactly this challenge.
Stoic thinkers taught us to focus on what we can control – our thoughts
and reactions – rather than external events.
Their powerful quotes distill this wisdom into direct, actionable insights.
Here are the 9 Stoic Quotes That Erase Fear in an Instant:
1. “Do not disturb yourself by picturing your life as a whole. Do not assemble in your mind the many and varied troubles that have come to you in the past and will come again in the future, but ask yourself with regard to every present difficulty: ‘What is there in this that is unbearable and beyond endurance?’”
— Marcus Aurelius
2. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it—and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
— Marcus Aurelius
3. “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.”
— Marcus Aurelius
4. “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.”
— Epictetus
5. “He who fears death will never do anything worth of a man who is alive.”
— Seneca
6. “The obstacle is the way. What stands in the path becomes the path.”
— Marcus Aurelius (adapted by Ryan Holiday)
7. “Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren’t packed with wise and moral actions. But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human—however imperfectly—and fully embrace the pursuit you’ve embarked on.”
— Marcus Aurelius
8. “Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back.”
— Marcus Aurelius (paraphrased)
9. “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient.”
— Seneca
