Both schools of thought are ascetic to one degree or another in that they require a turning away from what might be seen as the common pleasures of life. The Stoics were, however, far more engaged in society than the Epicureans. The latter removed themselves from civil life and lived communally in walled ‘gardens’, whereas Stoics by contrast were active, politically engaged and far more concerned with being effective members of society. Later, Christians drew upon the Stoic ideal of the good citizen in their own ideation of the dutiful Christian as an active and productive member of the
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