The Stoic emphasizes the necessity of living "according to nature," and dwells upon the character of the wise man; the Epicurean furnishes certain selfish maxims for getting through life as pleasantly as possible; the Skeptic counsels apathy, an indifference to all things,--blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall not be disappointed.
And yet, when we examine more closely these systems, we find a conception of philosophy not really so very different from that which had obtained before.

We do not find, it is true, that disinterested passion for the attainment of truth which is the glory of science.

Man seems quite too much concerned with the problem of his own happiness or unhappiness; he has grown morbid.

Nevertheless, the practical maxims which obtain in each of these systems are based upon a certain view of the system of things as a whole.
The Stoic tells us of what the world consists; what was the beginning and what will be the end of things; what is the relation of the system of things to God.

He develops a physics and a logic as well as a system of ethics.