Musonius Rufus Quotes

“You will earn the respect of all if you begin by earning the respect of yourself. Don't expect to encourage good deeds in people conscious of your own misdeeds.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“wealth is able to buy the pleasures of eating, drinking and other sensual pursuits-yet can never afford a cheerful spirit or freedom from sorrow.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“If we were to measure what is good by how much pleasure it brings, nothing would be better than self-control- if we were to measure what is to be avoided by its pain, nothing would be more painful than lack of self-control”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“We begin to lose our hesitation to do immoral things when we lose our hesitation to speak of them.”
― Gaius Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“Humanity must seek what is NOT simple and obvious using the simple and obvious.”
― Gaius Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“To accept injury without a spirit of savage resentment-to show ourselves merciful toward those who wrong us-being a source of good hope to them-is characteristic of a benevolent and civilized way of life.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“We will train both soul and body when we accustom ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, scarcity of food, hardness of bed, abstaining from pleasures, and enduring pains.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“What good are gilded rooms or precious stones-fitted on the floor, inlaid in the walls, carried from great distances at the greatest expense? These things are pointless and unnecessary-without them isn't it possible to live healthy? Aren't they the source of constant trouble? Don't they cost vast sums of money that, through public and private charity, may have benefited many?”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“Others have been in poor health from overindulgence and high living, before exile has provided strength, forcing them to live a more vigorous life.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“The best livelihood (particularly for the strong) is earning a living from the soil, whether you own your land or not. Many can support their families by farming land owned by the state or private landowners. Some even get rich through hard work with their own hands. The earth repays those who cultivate her, both justly and well , multiplying what she received – endowing in abundance all the necessities of life to anyone willing to work-and all this without violating your dignity or self-respect!”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“Won’t we, therefore, be willing to endure pain in order to gain complete happiness?”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Since I say that this is the case, the person who is practicing to become a philosopher must seek to overcome himself so that he won’t welcome pleasure and avoid pain, so that he won’t love living and fear death, and so that, in the case of money, he won’t honor receiving over giving.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Just as plants receive nourishment for survival, not pleasure-for humans, food is the medicine of life. Therefore it is appropriate for us to eat for living, not pleasure, especially if we want to follow the wise words of Socrates, who said most men live to eat: I eat to live”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“For mankind, evil is injustice and cruelty and indifference to a neighbour’s trouble, while virtue is brotherly love and goodness and justice and beneficence and concern for the welfare of your neighbour—with”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“Generally speaking, if you devote yourself to the life of philosophy, whilst tilling the land at the same time, I couldn’t compare it to any other way of life, nor would I prefer any other livelihood. It is living more in accord with nature-drawing your sustenance directly from the earth-the nurse and mother of us all-rather than from another source.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“You will deserve respect from everyone if you will start by respecting yourself.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Why do we criticise tyrants, when in fact we are much worse than they are? We have the same inclinations as they do; we just lack opportunities to act on them.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Gluttony is nothing other than lack of self-control with respect to food, and human beings prefer food that is pleasant to food that is nutritious.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Therefore practicing each virtue always must follow learning the lessons appropriate to it, or it is pointless for us to learn about it. The person who claims to be studying philosophy must practice it even more diligently than the person who aspires to the art of medicine or some similar skill, inasmuch as philosophy is more important and harder to grasp than any other pursuit.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Only by exhibiting actions in harmony with the sound words which he has received will anyone be helped by philosophy.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Thus it appears that exile helps, rather than hinders body and spirit, by treating them better than they treat themselves.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“For what does the man who accepts insult do that is wrong? It is the doer of wrong who puts themselves to shame-the sensible man wouldn't go to the law, since he wouldn't even consider that he had been insulted! Besides, to be annoyed or angered about such things would be petty-instead easily and silently bear what has happened, since this is appropriate for those whose purpose is to be noble-minded.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus on How to live

“If you accomplish something good with hard work, the labor passes quickly, but the good endures; if you do something shameful in pursuit of pleasure, the pleasure passes quickly, but the shame endures.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“what a great spectacle it is when a husband or wife with many children are seen with these children crowded around them! No procession conducted for the gods is as beautiful to look at, and no ritual performed solemnly for a sacred occasion is as worthy of being watched, as is a chorus of many children guiding their parents through the city, leading”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Philosophy teaches that we should be above pleasure and greed. It teaches that we should love frugality and avoid extravagance. It accustoms us to be modest and to control our tongue. It brings about discipline, order, decorum, and on the whole fitting behavior in action and in habit. If these things are present in a human being, they make him dignified and self-controlled.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Don’t expect to tell others what they should do when they know that you do what you shouldn’t. [Stobaeus 4.7.15.]”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“For obviously the philosopher's body should be well prepared for physical activity, because often the virtues make use of this as a necessary instrument for the affairs of life.”
― Musonius Rufus, Lectures and Fragments

“And this, according to Musonius, should be one of the primary objectives of philosophy: to reveal to us our shortcomings so we can overcome them and thereby live a good life.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings

“Consider what intemperate lovers undergo for the sake of evil desires, and how much exertion others expend for the sake of making profit, and how much suffering those who are pursuing fame endure, and bear in mind that all of these people submit to all kinds of toil and hardship voluntarily. Is it then not monstrous that they for no honorable reward endure such things, while we for the sake of the ideal good - that is not only the avoidance of evil such as wrecks our lives, but also the acquisition of virtue, which we may call the provider of all goods -- are not ready to bear every hardship?
And yet would not anyone admit how much better it is, in place of exerting oneself to win someone else's wife, to exert oneself the discipline of one's desires; in place of enduring hardships for the sake of money, the train oneself to want little; instead of giving oneself trouble about getting notoriety; instead of trying to find a way to injure an envied person, to enquire how not to envy anyone; and instead of slaving, as sycophants do, to win false friends, to undergo suffering in order to possess true friends?
Since toil and hardship are a necessity for all, both for those who seek better and worse, it is preposterous that those pursuing the better are not much more eager in their efforts than those for whom there is small hope of reward for all their pains. ...
It remains for me to say that who is unwilling to exert himself almost always convicts himself as unworthy of good, since all good is gained by toil.”
― Musonius Rufus, Lectures and Fragments

“Also nourishing is food from domestic animals which we don’t slaughter. The most suitable of these foods, though, are the ones we can eat without cooking: fruits in season, certain vegetables, milk, cheese, and honeycombs. These foods also are easiest to obtain. Even those foods that require cooking, including grains and some vegetables, are not unsuitable; all are proper food for a human being.”
― Musonius Rufus, Musonius Rufus: Lectures and Sayings