Stoic Ethics

Virtue is the only good. Everything else (health, wealth, reputation) is indifferent. You control your judgments, nothing more.

The Stoics divided all things into what depends on us and what does not. What depends on us (our will, our judgments, our intentions) is the only domain of good and evil. Everything else is neither good nor bad, just material to work with. Epictetus, who knew slavery firsthand, made this distinction the foundation of his teaching. Seneca applied it to wealth and political power. Marcus Aurelius tested it against the pressures of empire. Stoic ethics is not about suppressing emotion. It is about not being enslaved by it.