Seven Stoic Aphorisms

Excerpt from The Stoic Capitalist by Robert Rosenkranz

In this edited excerpt from The Stoic Capitalist, investor and philanthropist, Robert Rosenkranz, describes the seven key lessons he learned from Stoicism.

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The Stoic Capitalist

The habits of mind that helped me cope as a child, and helped me succeed as an adult, echo in the philosophical insights of the Stoics and the psychological insights of their intellectual heirs, the Cognitive Behavioral therapists.

My introduction to Stoic philosophy was the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. It was also an introduction to Marcus, one of the most extraordinary leaders in all history and very possibly the most philosophically grounded. What are the key ideas in Meditations? In the Stoic spirit, I will lay them out here as seven aphorisms:

1. Respect reason as the highest human attribute

“Your ability to control your thoughts—treat it with respect. It’s all that protects your mind from false perceptions—false to your nature, and that of all rational beings. It’s what makes thoughtfulness possible, and affection for other people, and submission to the divine.” (Meditations: Book 3, Paragraph 9). This is a foundational idea of CBT: psychological disorders are often the result of distorted perceptions or false ideas.

If we can think critically about our initial (and involuntary) emotional response to events and if we can apply reason to regulate our emotions, then we will have taken a giant step toward mental health. We will also have taken an important step toward the Stoic concept of freedom. Seneca views “freedom” as the highest human good. He doesn’t simply mean license to do what one wishes; rather it is freedom from bad ideas. It means distancing oneself from the mob and using critical thinking to examine “received wisdom.”

2. Distinguish between facts and interpretations

In the words of Monimus the Cynic as quoted by Marcus: “Everything is just an impression.” (Meditations: Book 2, Paragraph 15). He elaborates, “always to define whatever it is we perceive—to trace its outline—so we can see what it really is: its substance. Stripped bare. As a whole. Unmodified…. Nothing is so conducive to spiritual growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.” (Meditations: Book 3, Paragraph 11). Or, as Epictetus puts it in his book, the Enchiridion: “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them.” He develops the theme in Discourses, 4.3.6b-8: “Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom.”

This concept is a foundational one in CBT: you must learn to distinguish between what actually happened and your interpretation of its meaning. CBT teaches a kind of humility: the realization that one’s own interpretation is just one of a range of possibilities. It is difficult to fully understand one’s own motivations; and nearly impossible to understand anyone else’s.

3. Use reason to regulate emotions

CBT cautions that our automatic response to events or to other people is generally emotional. It urges that we train ourselves to be aware of automatic responses and subject them to rational scrutiny. Is our response logical? Are there alternative explanations we should consider? And most of all, does our response serve our interest?

The Stoics see anger as our most destructive emotion, akin in some respects to temporary insanity. In his essay, On Anger, Seneca explores the nature of anger and how it can be controlled and managed. His strategies for managing anger are as relevant as contemporary psychology. These techniques include attempting to see the bigger picture, to practice self-control, and to consider the consequences of one’s actions. Fear is equally powerful and often paralyzing. Stoic philosophy helps mitigate fear of an undesired outcome by emphasizing the idea that our thoughts about future events outside of our control are often more disturbing than the events themselves. CBT cautions against automatic responses including catastrophizing and overgeneralizing—both cognitive distortions which intensify fear and are obstacles to rational evaluation.

Distinguish between things you can change and things you can’t. In Meditations (Book 5, Paragraph 17): “It is crazy to want what is impossible.” Or as Epictetus puts it, “Some things are up to us and others are not.”

4. Accept impermanence; expect change

A stellar example of Stoic wisdom is to accept that things are always transitory. Be grateful for favorable conditions and for simple good luck.

Appreciate that there is a fundamental divide between those who create change, those who find change exciting and embrace it, and those who find change threatening and resist it. When the world changes, there is no use bemoaning the fact, your task is to adapt.

5. Value time as our most limited resource

“Do external things distract you? Then make time for yourself to learn something worthwhile; stop letting yourself be pulled in all directions. But make sure you guard against the other kind of confusion. People who labor all their lives but have no purpose to direct every thought and impulse toward are wasting their time—even when hard at work.” This, again, is drawn from Seneca. The key idea is that to husband our time, to spend it well, it must be focused on a goal. But the goal cannot simply be something in the future, because that subordinates the present moment. The process of seeking the goal must have value, must be satisfying even if the goal is not ultimately attained.

To paraphrase Seneca: a central focus of the well lived life is to use our limited time well, which means prioritizing what is essential, and eliminating what is merely distracting or peripheral.

6. Achieve peace of mind by doing less but doing it with greater concentration

“If you seek tranquility, do less. Or (more accurately) do what’s essential…. Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better.

• Because most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’

• But we need to eliminate unnecessary assumptions as well. To eliminate the unnecessary actions that follow.” (Meditations, 42–43)

Seneca discusses the relationship between wealth and peace of mind. He was among the wealthiest men in Rome and distinguished between wealth as an asset and wealth as a liability. Wealth can be an asset if it is used to do good in the world and to live a more fulfilling life; or a liability if it drives a meaningless pursuit of luxury, jealousy of those with more, and constant worry about losing what one has.

7. Act for the benefit of society

Marcus Aurelius understood that human nature is both selfish and “groupish.” We evolved as a species to form communities of trust. Large communities that work together generally prevail in the competition for resources with smaller and less cohesive groups. In Meditations (Book 11, Paragraph 21):

There is no common benchmark for all the things people think are good—except for a few, the ones that affect us all. So the goal [in life] should be a common one—a civic one. If you direct all your energies toward that, your actions will be consistent. And so will you.

Or, more metaphorically in Book 6, Paragraph 54: “What injures the hive injures the bee.”

In working for the common good, don’t harbor unrealistic expectations about human behavior. In Meditations (Book 2, Paragraph 1):

“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly…. [Each] has a nature related to my own…. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower.”

Some of the Stoics were from the very pinnacle of society; some from the very bottom. But they wrote at a time when most people were born into a virtually immutable status and role. I was very lucky to be born in an America that valued, perhaps more than any idea, the notion of equality of opportunity. People of ability, whatever their circumstances at birth, should have a chance to get a great education, to occupy positions of leadership, and to create wealth.

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Excerpted from The Stoic Capitalist by Robert Rosenkranz, run with permission of the author, courtesy of Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. © The Rosenkranz Foundation, 2025.

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