{"quotes":[{"text":"Submission, when it is submission to the truth — and when the truth is known to be both beautiful and merciful — has nothing in common with fatalism or stoicism as these terms are understood in the Western tradition, because its motivation is different. According to Fakhr ad-Din ar-RazT, one of the great commentators upon the Quran: The worship of the eyes isweeping, the worship of the ears is listening, the worship of the tongue is praise, the worship of the hands is giving, the worship of the body is effort, the worship of the heart is fear and hope, and the worship of the spirit is surrender and satisfaction in Allah.","author":"Fakhr Al-Din Al-Razi","tags":["allah","fatalism","islam","quran","stoicism","worship"],"id":3048,"author_id":"Fakhr+Al-Din+Al-Razi"},{"text":"How do you defeat terrorism? Don’t be terrorized.","author":"Salman Rushdie","tags":["civil-society","courage","freedom","serenity","stoicism","terrorism"],"id":5664,"author_id":"Salman+Rushdie"},{"text":"For what prevents us from saying that the happy life is to have a mind that is free, lofty, fearless and steadfast - a mind that is placed beyond the reach of fear, beyond the reach of desire, that counts virtue the only good, baseness the only evil, and all else but a worthless mass of things, which come and go without increasing or diminishing the highest good, and neither subtract any part from the happy life nor add any part to it?A man thus grounded must, whether he wills or not, necessarily be attended by constant cheerfulness and a joy that is deep and issues from deep within, since he finds delight in his own resources, and desires no joys greater than his inner joys.","author":"Seneca","tags":["anthem","happiness","intrisic-motivation","stoicism"],"id":10260,"author_id":"Seneca"},{"text":"What do you know of my heart? What do you know of anything but your own suffering. For weeks, Marianne, I've had this pressing on me without being at liberty to speak of it to a single creature. It was forced on me by the very person whose prior claims ruined all my hope. I have endured her exultations again and again whilst knowing myself to be divided from Edward forever. Believe me, Marianne, had I not been bound to silence I could have provided proof enough of a broken heart, even for you.","author":"Jane Austen","tags":["classics","heartbreak","stoicism"],"id":11765,"author_id":"Jane+Austen"},{"text":"I must fling myself down and writhe; I must strive with every piece of force I possess; I bruise and batter myself against the floor, the walls; I strain and sob and exhaust myself, and begin again, and exhaust myself again; but do I feel pain? Never. How can I feel pain? There is no place for it.","author":"Harry Houdini","tags":["determination","pain","stoicism"],"id":20764,"author_id":"Harry+Houdini"},{"text":"If you have assumed any character beyond your strength, you have both demeaned yourself ill in that and quitted one which you might have supported.","author":"Epictetus","tags":["character","stoicism"],"id":24514,"author_id":"Epictetus"},{"text":"Life is such unutterable hell, solely because it is sometimes beautiful. If we could only be miserable all the time, if there could be no such things as love or beauty or faith or hope, if I could be absolutely certain that my love would never be returned: how much more simple life would be. One could plod through the Siberian salt mines of existence without being bothered about happiness. Unfortunately the happiness is there. There is always the chance (about eight hundred and fifty to one) that another heart will come to mine. I can't help hoping, and keeping faith, and loving beauty. Quite frequently I am not so miserable as it would be wise to be.","author":"T.H. White","tags":["beauty","faith","happiness","hope","life","living","love","misery","pain","positivity","stoicism"],"id":26770,"author_id":"T.H.+White"},{"text":"At the bar on the Favoritenstrasse, Julius the policeman talked to us about dignity, evolution, the great Darwin and the great Nietzsche. I translated so that my good friend Ulises could understand what he was saying, although I didn’t understand any of it. The prayer of the bones, said Julius. The yearning for health. The virtue of danger. The tenacity of the forgotten. Bravo, said my good friend Ulises. Bravo, said everyone else. The limits of memory. The wisdom of plants. The eye of parasites. The agility of the earth. The merit of the soldier. The cunning of the giant. The hole of the will. Magnificent, said my good friend Ulises in German. Extraordinary.","author":"Roberto Bolaño","tags":["desert","giants","memory","nietzsche","prayer","stoicism"],"id":49281,"author_id":"Roberto+Bola%C3%B1o"},{"text":"When you run up against someone else’s shamelessness, ask yourself this: Is a world without shamelessness possible?No. Then don’t ask the impossible. There have to be shameless people in the world. This is one of them. The same for someone vicious or untrustworthy, or with any other defect. Remembering that the whole world class has to exist will make you more tolerant of its members.","author":"Marcus Aurelius","tags":["detachment","self-improvement","stoicism"],"id":52657,"author_id":"Marcus+Aurelius"},{"text":"Love sometimes injures. Friendship always benefits, After friendship is formed you must trust, but before that you must judge.","author":"Seneca","tags":["friendship","life","love","stoicism","trust"],"id":52736,"author_id":"Seneca"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":84,"pages":9,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}