A virtue is ‘an excellence of character,’ or, simply said:

morally good behaviour. Morally good behaviour benefits not only you and those around you,

but the greater good. The stoics believed in an interdependent universe: that everything

and everyone is connected in some way. Thus, according to stoicism, what is best for the

greater good is eventually best for you as well. This is why the stoics were convinced that the

most rational people were people that committed to the greater good - or, in other words:

acted virtuously. Not acting virtuous is the result of ignorance, according to stoics.

When life throws you in an unexpected direction, virtues can guide you towards what

to do and keep you grounded. This is why the most virtuous people are the

calmest and most relaxed. In order to be virtuous, one has to keep the four

most important virtues of stoicism in mind: wisdom, justice, temperance and courage.

Wisdom, in the eyes of stoics, is the ability to judge what is good, bad,

in between, or neutral. Instead of being controlled by emotion,

one must think clearly and logically as to what would be the morally correct thing to do. When

you have two options in a difficult situation, wisdom is the ability to think through both

Then: justice. Justice is acquired through wisdom and it means doing both what is right and fair,

to others as well as ourselves. The stoics regard it as one’s duty to both oneself, our fellow men

and society as a whole.

The third virtue, courage, is the ability to take action in the face of your own fear. To

do what is necessary or helpful even when you do not know you will succeed.

Courage is not the elimination of fear, desire, or anxiety. Rather,

it is deciding to act and taking steps despite our fear, passion, and anxiety.

Lastly, temperance. The other word for temperance is moderation, which means to stay in the middle

between two extremes - to make sure to never take too much or too little. In practice,

temperance often looks like self-restraint, self-control or discipline. According to Aurelius,

one quality that set humans apart from animals was the ability to stop oneself if necessary.

Temperance is important for ensuring our long-term well-being over short-term satisfaction.

For a very trivial example, consider a bag of chips. Finishing the entire

bag in one go might be nice in the moment, but it is bad for your health,

and even potentially your mood in some cases. Thus, one should practise self-restraint and

stop after the first few bites. Temperance is also aided by wisdom: only by thinking wisely

can you decide how much of something you need to acquire before stopping yourself.

The stoics divided all possible things and actions in the world between goods,

evils, and indifferents. It was always important to seek out good, avoid evil,

and choose the indifferents as you please. You create evil when you act against one

of these virtues; for example, when you steal from somebody, disrespect someone,

act recklessly or cowardly, or make somebody ill. You participate in good when you act according

to these virtues. And you do neither when you perform indifferent acts, like taking a walk,

for example. These simple rules to live by do not just make you a better person, but they’ll make

one a more relaxed one. When you act according to the virtues, you are always guided by good

and you are always acting rationally, according to the stoics. Such behaviour creates a calm mind.