Stoicism: the philosophy of what you can control

Stoicism was founded in Athens around 300 BCE by Zeno of Citium, who taught in a public colonnade called the Stoa Poikile, or painted porch, which gave the school its name. It became one of the most influential philosophies of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds.

The best-known Stoic writers are Roman. Seneca was a statesman and adviser to the emperor Nero; Epictetus was born enslaved and became a celebrated teacher; and Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor whose private notes, now called the Meditations, remain widely read.

Epictetus opened his handbook with a central Stoic idea: some things are within our power and others are not. Our judgements, intentions and choices are up to us. Our bodies, possessions, reputations and the actions of others are ultimately not.

Much unhappiness, the Stoics argued, comes from treating things outside our control as if our wellbeing depended on them. By focusing effort on our own choices and accepting outcomes we cannot change, we can remain steady whatever happens.

Stoics held that virtue is the only true good and vice the only true evil. They named four cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, justice and moderation. Wealth, health and pleasure were called preferred indifferents: sensible to pursue, but not needed for a good life and not worth compromising virtue for.

This did not mean withdrawing from the world. Stoics believed humans are social beings and citizens of a single human community, a cosmopolitan idea, and that we have duties to others, to our families and to society.

The Stoics taught that destructive emotions such as rage, envy and excessive fear arise from mistaken judgements, for instance judging that an insult truly harms us. As Epictetus put it, people are disturbed not by things but by the views they take of things.

The goal was not to feel nothing, as the modern word stoic suggests, but to replace distorted passions with good emotional states based on accurate judgement, such as joy in acting well. This idea influenced modern cognitive behavioural therapy, whose founders acknowledged a debt to Stoic thought.

• Negative visualisation: imagining the loss of things we value to appreciate them and prepare for change.
• The evening review: reflecting at the end of each day on what one did well and badly, as Seneca described.
• The view from above: picturing oneself from a great height to put personal troubles in perspective.
• Memento mori: remembering that life is short, to focus on what matters.
• Voluntary discomfort: occasionally living simply to reduce dependence on comfort.

Critics, ancient and modern, have argued that Stoicism can encourage passive acceptance of injustice, or that its ideal of calm detachment is unrealistic. Defenders point out that Stoics emphasised justice and action, and that knowing what one can control helps direct energy where it can make a difference.

Stoic ideas influenced early Christian thinkers, Renaissance writers and the founders of modern psychotherapy. In recent decades, Stoicism has seen a popular revival through books, podcasts and courses, often presented as a practical toolkit for resilience.