The Stoic Creed - College of Stoic Philosophers

PREFACE
THESE chapters are a contribution towards the exposition
and just appreciation of Stoicism which, whatever its
defects, was a system of lofty principles,
illustrated in
the lives of many noble men. The
subject has perennial
fascination ;
and there are not wanting signs
that it
appeals with special attractiveness to cultured minds at
the present day.
It has both speculative and practical
value ; its analysis of human nature and its theory of
knowledge, no less than its ethical teaching, giving
insight into the problems
of the universe
and the right
mode of guiding life. As an important stage
in the
march of philosophical thought, and as a luminous
chapter in the history of natural theology,
it solicits
our attention, and will repay our study.
Ample quotations are designedly made from the Stoic
writers themselves and from ancient Greek and Latin
expositions. Responsibility for the translation of most
of the passages must be accepted by myself. One
exception, however, has to be made. The passages