Top 33 Stoic Quotes For Hard Times


We all experience having bad and good days. However, it doesn’t mean you have a bad day; you will have a whole bad year. Every time we face any difficult circumstances, we might fail to recognize our strengths, and we sometimes focus on our frailties. Today, it’s time to do the complete opposite. With this list of stoic quotes for hard times below, you’ll gain your strength back and continue winning your life’s battles. 



“Misfortune is virtue’s opportunity.” -L. A. Seneca

“Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” -L. A. Seneca

“The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable.” -L. A. Seneca

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” -L. A. Seneca

“People are not disturbed by things, but by the views they take of them.” -Epictetus

“It’s not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it.” – L. A. Seneca

“You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday.   You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” – Epicurus

“You need not look about for the reward of a just deed; a just deed in itself offers a still greater return.” -L. A. Seneca

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …” – Marcus Aurelius

“We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.” – Epictetus



Trials are there to complement your life. It adds color and adventure to it that you will surely enjoy in the long run. Here are more stoic quotes for hard times below that will inspire you to keep going. 

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” -L. A. Seneca

“Of all the means to insure happiness throughout the whole life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friends.” -Epicurus

“How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life.” – Marcus Aurelius 

“Associate with those who will make a better man of you. Welcome those whom you yourself can improve. The process is mutual; for men learn while they teach.” L. A. Seneca

“Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.” Epictetus

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” -Marcus Aurelius

“For we are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity.” -L. A. Seneca

“To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.” -L. A. Seneca

“A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” -Marcus Aurelius

“No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.” -L. A. Seneca



Life can be difficult sometimes. It’ll definitely not be easy. However, the secret behind these hardships is when you find real happiness at the end. To inspire you more, read this next set of stoic quotes for hard times below. 

“What difference does it make, after all, what your position in life is if you dislike it yourself?” -L. A. Seneca

“Even if some obstacle comes on the scene, its appearance is only to be compared to that of clouds which drift in front of the sun without ever defeating its light.” -L. A. Seneca

“In the meantime, cling tooth and nail to the following rule: not to give in to adversity, not to trust prosperity, and always take full note of fortune’s habit of behaving just as she pleases. Whatever you have been expecting for some time comes as less of a shock.” -L. A. Seneca

“Constant misfortune brings this one blessing: to whom it always assails, it eventually fortifies.” -L. A. Seneca

“I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent— no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”-L. A. Seneca

“Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it—turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself—so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal. -Marcus Aurelius 

“If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.” -Marcus Aurelius

“It’s unfortunate that this has happened. No. It’s fortunate that this has happened and I’ve remained unharmed by it—not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. It could have happened to anyone. But not everyone could have…

Ask, ‘Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?’ You’ll be embarrassed to answer.” -Marcus Aurelius

“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” -Marcus Aurelius

“The true man is revealed in difficult times. So when trouble comes, think of yourself as a wrestler whom God, like a trainer, has paired with a tough young buck. For what purpose? To turn you into Olympic-class material.” -Epictetus

“What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar – and no savage criminals to rid the world of? What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules.” -Epictetus

“Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own inner resources. The trails we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths. Prudent people look beyond the incident itself and seek to form the habit of putting it to good use. On the occasion of an accidental event, don’t just react in a haphazard fashion: remember to turn inward and ask what resources you have for dealing with it. Dig deeply. You possess strengths you might not realize you have. Find the right one. Use it.” -Epictetus

THESE ARE THE TOP 33 STOIC QUOTES FOR HARD TIMES. WHICH ONE IS YOUR FAVORITE? VISIT OUR CHANNEL ENDLESS AWESOME TO WATCH MORE QUOTES LIKE THIS!

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