Word of the Day: May 1, 2009 ~ stoic

stoic (stoh-ik) - adjective

Stoic means "of or pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Zeno, who taught that people should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity."

Originally used in the written form around 1350-1400. From the Middle English word stoic; from the Latin Stiōcus; and from the Greek Stōikos.

At the end of the 4th century, Zeno of Citium founded a Greek school of philosophy. He taught that the wise man should be calm, free from all passion, and always submissive to the divine will. In Greek, stoa or stoikos meant "porch," usually a covered colonnade or portico. Zeno and his pupils gathered in the most famous one of Athens, the poikile stoa, "the painted porch,"set in the main market place, and decorated by artist Polygnotus with scenes of the destruction of Troy, the battle of Marathon, and others. Because their classroom was the stoikos, Zeno and his successors have been called "Stoics." In these days, a stoic is one who, like Zeno, tries to control his emotions and practices indifference to both pleasure and pain.

Photo by Tony the Misfit

Comments

[Tiger]

your 'word of the day' section rocks Jinxi! I always read them and try to use that word at least once a day in a sentence. So today, if someone tries to put me down, I will be 'stoic' in my reaction to them. Hahaha, I'm such a 'knurd'