# Stoicism — Tradition Stoicism is the Hellenistic and Roman school founded by [[Zeno of Citium]] (c.300 BCE) and developed by [[Epictetus]], [[Seneca]], and the emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] (*[[Meditations]]*). Its core is that virtue is the only true good, that we should concern ourselves only with what is "up to us" (the dichotomy of control), and that we should live in accordance with reason and nature. ## Why it matters on the right Stoicism is the breakout philosophy of the online right and the adjacent self-improvement and **[[Manosphere]]** economy. Stripped to a few maxims about discipline, emotional control, and enduring hardship, [[Marcus Aurelius]] and [[Epictetus]] are marketed as a masculine operating system for a "soft" age. This appropriation is highly **selective**: it amplifies self-mastery and grit while dropping the original school's cosmopolitanism (the universal brotherhood of humankind), its indifference to wealth and worldly status, and its egalitarian streak. The gap between historical Stoicism and "broicism" is itself a useful analytical wedge. See the [[Ethics]] branch and the [[Philosophy in Right-Wing Thought Hub]] MOC. The discipline angle also connects to the [[Decision Science]] folder's interest in mental models. For the school's scandalous parent and its forgotten rival, see Cynicism and Epicureanism.