While the Epicureans considered “pleasures or the pleasant life” the goal of life, the Stoics took a considerably different view. The work it took to cultivate oneself to live in line with nature and the acceptance of things as they are was considered a character building pursuit. For this reason, I have selected the first quote, “Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor what they seem to be. They are what they are”. Not only does it mean to see things at face value but also advises not to read into life, people, and situations anything that isn’t there. In order to achieve this one would need to cultivate mastery over emotions and thoughts in order to discipline the mind. To sharpen and practice one’s reasoning skill is to a Stoic one of his greatest freedoms.
The second quote, “Don’t try to make your own rules. Conduct yourself in all matters, grand and public or small and domestic, in accordance with the laws of nature…When you carry out your tasks…do so—to the best of your ability—in harmony with nature…” This shows that it is useless to worry about what cannot be controlled. The best that can be done is to strive to live at peace with one’s environment and not worry about what cannot be controlled but concentrate on what can be controlled. For instance, death to a Stoic holds nothing to fear. Simply put, it cannot be controlled and it is inevitable. It would be best to relinquish this fear as a smaller insignificant aspect of life and concentrate on matters related to honor, duty and lifting up one’s self to a higher quality.
While in present day, someone who is labeled Stoic is usually thought of as someone unaffected by emotion (a stiff upper lip); a truer definition would be one who finds true happiness by cultivating “goodness” in one’s life.