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Wellsprings
ethics

Temperance

σωφροσύνη

Mastery over one's appetites and pleasures — the self-command Plato called a kind of inner order.

Sophrosyne, usually translated as temperance or self-control, is the virtue of moderating desire and appetite so that reason governs the irrational parts of the soul. The Stoics particularly emphasized this concept as essential to a well-ordered inner life. They saw temperance not as mere abstinence but as a harmonious state where the soul maintains clarity and stability regardless of external circumstances, with the rational part of the mind staying in command over bodily impulses.

The practical expression of sophrosyne appears in how a person lives day to day. The Stoic philosopher Zeno became legendary for his austere lifestyle—eating simple uncooked food and wearing a thin cloak—as a living demonstration that virtue required mastering physical wants. Those who lack temperance, by contrast, allow unchecked desire to overwhelm their judgment, leading them into vice through excess in eating, drinking, or sexual indulgence. The temperate person maintains freedom from such slavery to appetite.

Where this idea shows up

224 Greek sources

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