25 Quotes by Chrysippus
Chrysippus was a brilliant philosopher and a prominent figure in ancient Stoicism, contributing significantly to the development and expansion of the school's teachings. As the third head of the Stoa, Chrysippus refined and systematized the principles established by the school's founder, Zeno of Citium. His written works, though unfortunately lost over time, were highly influential, as they shaped the Stoic doctrine for centuries to come.
Chrysippus expounded on topics such as ethics, logic, and natural philosophy, emphasizing the importance of rationality, self-control, and living in harmony with nature. His contributions to the Stoic understanding of fate and determinism played a pivotal role in shaping the Stoic worldview, which attracted numerous adherents throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Chrysippus's intellectual rigor and logical prowess were held in high regard by his contemporaries, and he earned a reputation as one of the most eminent philosophers of his time. Though much of his work remains lost, his impact on Stoicism and the wider philosophical landscape continues to be acknowledged and studied by modern scholars seeking insight into ancient wisdom and ethical living.
Chrysippus Quotes
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.
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.
There could be no justice, unless there were also injustice; no courage, unless there were cowardice; no truth, unless there were falsehood.
Death is the separation of soul from body.
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.
The soul is joined to and is separated from the body. Therefore, the soul is corporeal.
Vice cannot be removed completely, nor is it right that it should be removed.
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.'
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.
Thought is the fountain of speech.
Living virtuously is equal to living in accordance with one's experience of the actual course of nature
If I had followed the multitude, I should not have studied philosophy.
The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul.
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.
Every animal is related to its own constitution and the consciousness of it.
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.
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.
― Chrysippus Quotes
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