Chrysippus Quotes

“Although it is true that by fate all things are forced and linked by a necessary and dominant reason, nevertheless the character of our minds is subject to fate in a manner corresponding to their nature and quality.”

“Death is the separation of soul from body.”

“Every animal is related to its own constitution and the consciousness of it.”

“Fate is a sempiternal and unchangeable series and chain of things, rolling and unraveling itself through eternal sequences of cause and effect, of which it is composed and compounded.”

“He who is running a race ought to endeavor and strive to the utmost of his ability to come off victor; but it is utterly wrong for him to trip up his competitor, or to push him aside.

So in life it is not unfair for one to seek for himself what may accrue to his benefit; but it is not right to take it from another.”

“I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things.”

“If I followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy.”

“If our minds were originally formed by nature in a sound and useful manner, then they pass on all the forces of fate, which imposes on us from outside in a relatively unobjectionable and more acceptable way.”

“If something were brought about without an antecedent cause, it would be untrue that all things come about through fate.

But if it is plausible that all events have an antecedent cause, what ground can be offered for not conceding that all things come about through fate?”

“Living virtuously is equal to living in accordance with one's experience of the actual course of nature.”

“Of causes, some are complete and primary, others auxiliary and proximate.

Hence, when we say that all things come about through fate by antecedent causes, we do not mean this to be understood as 'by complete and primary causes', but 'by auxiliary and proximate causes'.”

“The anchovy which is found in the sea at Athens, men despise on account of its abundance and say that it is a poor man’s fish; but in other cities, they prize it above everything, even where it is far inferior to the Attic anchovy.”

“The soul is joined to and is separated from the body. Therefore, the soul is corporeal.”

“The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul.”

“There could be no justice, unless there were also injustice; no courage, unless there were cowardice; no truth, unless there were falsehood.”

“There is a certain head, and that head you have not. Now this being so, there is a head which you have not; therefore, you are without a head.”

“Thought is the fountain of speech.”

“Vice cannot be removed completely, nor is it right that it should be removed.”

“Vice, by comparison with terrible accidents, has its own peculiar explanation. For, in a way, it does occur in accordance with the rationale of nature, and its occurrence is not, so to speak, useless in relation to the whole world. For otherwise, the good would not exist, either.”

“We should infer in the case of a beautiful dwelling-place that it was built for its owners and not for mice; we ought, therefore, in the same way to regard the universe as the dwelling-place of the gods.”

“When a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow, it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity. But if the dog does not follow, it will be compelled in any case.

So it is with men too: even if they don’t want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined.”

“When through the power of sight we see white, that which comes about in the soul through the act of seeing is a modification. And on the basis of this modification, we are able to say that the white which is affecting us exists.”

“Wise people are in want of nothing, and yet need many things. On the other hand, nothing is needed by fools, for they do not understand how to use anything, but are in want of everything.”