The Quotable Stoic

An aphorism is a statement of truth condensed into few words that express much. “Concise, clever, often paradoxical,” says Webster’s Dictionary. In the ancient world, the first aphorisms were inscriptions in verse, carved into the stone of tombs, statues, temples, and triumphal arches. With the advent of paper, they evolved into brief morsels of insight, often witty or satirical.


The Quotable Stoic is a new distillation of wisdom in the classic tradition of Mark Twain, H. L. Mencken, Epictetus, Samuel Johnson, and la Rochefoucauld. If you love aphorisms, you’ll be delighted by the original mind reflected here. If you enjoy seeing things from a different angle and like to examine life’s larger questions, then this is the perfect book for you.


The aphorisms are sectioned into the traditional categories and presented in a meaningful array. We begin with Manners because one is nothing without them. An Attitude section is included because in these times one tries to be a Positive Person and to avoid Negativity. The Attitude section may be somewhat contradicted by other sections, but then, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds….” One does not read a book of aphorisms like a novel; one quite properly skips around in it. Most readers will begin with Health, then Love and Wealth. Friendship and Culture will also draw attention. Some may foolishly forgo the invaluable lessons in Manners, Wisdom, and Vanity. Those who choose to skip Mortality will be forgiven.