Is Stoicism Passive? What Stoic Acceptance Asks of You
The idea that Stoicism is passive misreads the texts, because Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius ask us to accept only what is not up to us and to act, with other people in mind, on what is.
I first heard Stoicism described as surrendering to fate and not caring about anything outside my control, and that never matched the lives of the Stoics I read about. Marcus Aurelius wrote his notebook while governing an empire, and Arrian, who recorded the Discourses of Epictetus, later governed the Roman province of Cappadocia. That history does not settle the question by itself, so this post looks at what the Stoics wrote about acceptance, action and the common good, and adds what I have seen in my own practice.
How I First Heard About Stoicism
When I started on my Stoic journey many years ago, the first messages I heard said that Stoicism gives you peace and a good life because you do not have to worry or care about anything outside your control. You should surrender to fate, the message went, and then life would be good, which is how amor fati reached me. It did not make sense to me, especially when I looked at the ancient Stoics and saw how involved in life they were.
Zeno taught his new philosophy among the people of Athens, while Epicurus retreated into his garden. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor, and Seneca advised the emperor Nero. Their lives looked nothing like the passive philosophy I had been told about.
What Stoicism Asks Us to Accept
Epictetus limits acceptance to what is not up to us, and he lists our own actions among the things that are up to us. Enchiridion 1 draws the line in two sentences, and his teaching on acceptance depends on where it falls.
"Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is our own action. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever is not our action."
Epictetus, Enchiridion, 1
Body, property and reputation sit on the side we accept, while opinion, desire, aversion and action sit on the side we own. A reader who stops at the first half of that list hears resignation, and a reader who reaches the second half hears a job description. The dichotomy of control asks us to sort a situation into those two lists before we decide what to do, and the faculty that does the sorting is what Epictetus calls prohairesis.
I spoke about this in a podcast episode: when we look at the dichotomy of control, most people stop at the side of what is not up to us, while the other side is the key. What is up to you is where your focus belongs, and it becomes real and active when you apply it properly.
The Stoics also kept a habit that holds acceptance and action together, which Greek writers call hupexhairesis and we call the Stoic reserve clause. A Stoic makes the plan in full earnest and adds the condition in thought that nothing prevents it, so the effort stays up to the person while the outcome stays with fate. Epictetus describes this attitude in Discourses 4.1.90 and Seneca in On the Tranquility of the Mind 13, and neither of them uses it as a reason to stop acting.
Doing Nothing Is Not the Stoic Alternative
Marcus Aurelius treats an obstacle as material for action, not as a reason to stop.
"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.20
The line comes from a man who had a war on the Danube, a plague and a court to manage, and it describes how he wanted to meet each of them. In the same notebook he describes action without a social purpose as a fault in the person who takes it.
"You participate in a society by your existence. Then participate in its life through your actions – all your actions. Any actions not directed toward a social end (directly or indirectly) is a disturbance to your life, an obstacle to wholeness, a source of dissension. Like the man in the Assembly – a faction to himself, always out of step with the majority."
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.23
The passage reads as a rebuke to withdrawal. A person who steps back from the common life becomes, in his words, a faction to himself, and the passage names no exception. For the full set of his notes on action, browse the Marcus Aurelius quotes collection, and for the practice of meeting hard moments without resistance, see how to welcome difficult moments.
Why Stoics Look Beyond Their Own Peace
Epictetus argues that a rational animal cannot reach its own goods without contributing to the common good.
"He has so constituted the nature of the rational animal, that he is unable to attain any of his own goods unless he makes some contribution to the common good. So ultimately it is not antisocial for a person to do everything for his own sake."
Epictetus, Discourses, 1.19.13-14
The second sentence makes self-interest and service one project in Epictetus’s account, which is the Stoic idea of oikeiosis, the extension of concern for ourselves outward to other people. The chapter itself is covered in Epictetus Discourses 1.19.
Marcus Aurelius compresses the same idea into seven words.
"What injures the hive injures the bee."
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.54
Seneca describes the aim of the school in terms of other people’s good, which sits badly with a philosophy of withdrawal.
"No school is more kind and gentle, none more loving of mankind and more devoted to the common good, so that its guiding principle is to be useful and helpful, and to consider not merely self-interest but that of each and every person on earth."
Seneca, On Clemency, 2.5
Seneca wrote this in a work for the young emperor Nero, whom he advised, so the aim he describes comes from someone who held a public role. More of his writing is on the Seneca quotes page.
I have noticed the same pull during my own studies of Stoicism: the call to share and to support others has only grown louder. It pulled me naturally into hosting spaces on X, and now I host Stoic walks and events wherever I find myself. It has made me more social, in a way that suits me.
What Acceptance Means When Others Wrong Us
Marcus Aurelius separates what another person does from what it does to our character, and that separation shapes how we respond.
"So other people hurt me? That's their problem. Their character and actions are not mine. What is done to me is ordained by nature, what I do by my own."
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.25
The passage gives us composure when someone wrongs us, because it removes the idea that their conduct damages our own character. It also hands the question of how to respond back to us, since what I do belongs to me. Acceptance describes how we hold the wrong, and whatever we do next still comes from our own judgment.
Choices Are the Active Side
Life is about choices, and Epictetus puts great emphasis on that in his teaching. The more you apply Stoic philosophy, the more you realize that you carry the responsibility for your own life and nobody else does. What you make of it is up to you, and that includes how you view the world and how you position yourself in it.
Yes, embrace fate, but how you deal with it and act in that moment is entirely up to you. That is where the dichotomy of control stops being a comfort and becomes a way of acting.
A Five Minute Practice: Sort, Then Act
Take one situation you have been describing as something you are simply accepting, such as a colleague who keeps taking credit for shared work. Draw two columns as Enchiridion 1 does and list what is not up to you, such as the colleague’s behaviour and what others think, beside what is up to you, such as your own record of the work and what you say in the next meeting. Then choose one item from the second column that also serves the people you work with, and do it today. That last step is the part the passive reading leaves out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stoicism a passive philosophy?
No, because Epictetus limits acceptance to what is not up to us, Marcus Aurelius treats obstacles as material for action and calls action without a social end a disturbance, and Seneca names the good of every person as the aim of the school. More of Epictetus is on the Epictetus quotes page.
Does Stoicism mean accepting everything that happens?
It means accepting what is not up to us, such as body, property and reputation, while treating opinion, desire, aversion and action as our responsibility. That split between the two lists is what the practice of welcoming difficult moments works with.
Did the Stoics take part in public life?
Several did. Marcus Aurelius governed the Roman Empire, Seneca advised the emperor Nero, and Arrian, who wrote down the lessons of Epictetus, later governed a Roman province. Their writing about the common good came from people who held public roles.
What is the difference between Stoic acceptance and passivity?
Acceptance applies to outcomes we cannot control, while passivity would mean leaving our own actions undone. Meditations 5.20 and 9.23 both point toward action, and the five minute practice above gives you a way to start. If you want help turning that into a daily habit, Stoic coaching is built around it.
Want to Learn More?
If this resonated and you are ready to start building your own philosophy of life, a conversation with Benny as your Stoic coach can be a good place to begin. You can also sign up for the newsletter, The Pause, or watch or listen to the Via Stoica Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
About the Author
Benny Voncken is the founder of Via Stoica and host of The Via Stoica Podcast. He has practiced Stoicism as a way of life for over seven years and draws on almost 15 years of teaching experience to turn dense ancient ideas into daily practice. Since 2023 he has coached clients around the world through one-on-one Stoic coaching. He also leads Stoic walks across Europe, writes the monthly newsletter The Pause, and has spoken at Stoicon.
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