Part of the Penguin Great Ideas series, How To Be A Stoic gathers together philosophical reflections from Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. As we can all use some Stoic wisdom heading into winter, we’ve reproduced extracts below

It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them. Death, for example, is nothing frightening, otherwise it would have frightened Socrates. But the judgement that death is frightening – now, that is something to be afraid of. So when we are frustrated, angry or unhappy, never hold anyone except ourselves – that is, our judgements – accountable. An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.
Epictetus

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Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.
Epictetus

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Men seek retreats for themselves – in the country, by the sea, in the hills – and you yourself are particularly prone to this yearning. But all this is quite unphilosophical, when it is open to you, at any time you want, to retreat into yourself. No retreat offers someone more quiet and relaxation than that into his own mind, especially if he can dip into thoughts there which put him at immediate and complete ease: and by ease I simply mean a well-ordered life. So constantly give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself. The doctrines you will visit there should be few and fundamental, sufficient at one meeting to wash away all your pain and send you back free of resentment at what you must rejoin.
Marcus Aurelius

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For every challenge, remember the resources you have within you to cope with it. Provoked by the sight of a handsome man or a beautiful woman, you will discover within you the contrary power of self-restraint. Faced with pain, you will discover the power of endurance. If you are insulted, you will discover patience. In time, you will grow to be confident that there is not a single impression that you will not have the moral means to tolerate.
Epictetus

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“If you want to be happy,” says Democritus, “do little.” May it not be better to do what is necessary, what the reason of a naturally social being demands, and the way reason demands it done? This brings the happiness both of right action and of little action. Most of what we say and do is unnecessary: remove the superfluity, and you will have more time and less bother. So in every case one should prompt oneself: “Is this, or is it not, something necessary?” And the removal of the unnecessary should apply not only to actions but to thoughts also: then no redundant actions either will follow.
Marcus Aurelius

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Remember to act always as if you were at a symposium. When the food or drink comes around, reach out and take some politely; if it passes you by don’t try pulling it back. And if it has not reached you yet, don’t let your desire run ahead of you, be patient until your turn comes.
Epictetus

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Just as a target is not set up in order to be missed, so evil is no natural part of the world’s design.
Epictetus

Extracts from How To Be A Stoic: Great Ideas (Penguin Classics, £5.99)

The Penguin Great Ideas series first launched in 2004. The brand-new selection of 20 titles, all beautifully designed, includes writings by Audre Lorde, Peter Singer, Martin Luther King, Peter Kropotkin and Simone Weil, among others. Find out more here.