QUOTE : One of the most popular of those schools early on was Stoicism, which was launched by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. The Stoics – the name comes from the stoa poikile or Painted Porch in Athens, where Zeno used to meet with his students – argued that what kept people from living in accordance with reason was, on the one hand, misguided opinions about what was and wasn’t important, and on the other, simple lack of courage. Along the lines of some modern systems of thought, they insisted that if people studied logic and gained an accurate sense of their very modest place in the universe, they would respond to life’s events in a sane and constructive manner, rather than being batted around at random by the forces of passion and prejudice.