Hello there, Last week I went off a little hard on the text, so this week I will keep things nice and simple to atone for my ambition. Let us find some simple inspiration from the king of objectivity. This is form Epictetus’ Discourses I 6/ 6-8: “Who fitted the sword to the scabbard and the scabbard to the sword? […]
Hello there, Same as last week, I want to use some external knowledge to our school to help drive home some of our ancient ideas. Today, let us seek inspiration from one of my favourite political philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard: “Life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.” I often do some one on one […]
Hello there, Wisdom is the domain of everyone. As such, wisdom is to be found everywhere, heard from (potentially) everyone. The only way we can learn all that it is we want to try and learn in this life time, we MUST look at other schools, doctrines, studies, etc. Our school has identified many truths, necessary for a tranquil and […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, let us find some inspiration from Seneca. This is from his work on Providence: “It is not possible that any evil can befall a good man. Opposites cannot combine.” I love this one. Simple, yet so much happening in this here quote. Today, however, I want to focus on the idea that we are […]
Hello there, Moderation is everything. We know this. Yet we all fail from time to time and overindulge. This week we can try and focus one common over indulgence with some words from Musonius Rufus. This is from his lectures 18a and 18b (Lutz translation): “But to sum up the question of food, I maintain that its purpose should be […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, I will seek some inspiration from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations IV 16: “Within ten days you will seem a god to those to whom you are now a beast and an ape, if you will return to your principles and the worship of reason.” We all make mistakes. Daily. We all act out of character. […]
Hello there, As I do sometimes (and as our ancient guides recommend we do), I will seek some wisdom outside of our school today. Here are some words from another great philosopher Lao Tzu: “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, let us look at some words from Seneca’s Moral Letters to Lucilius CVIII 35-38: “Many words have been spoken by Plato, Zeno, Chrysippus, Posidonius, and by a whole host of equally excellent Stoics. I’ll tell you how people can prove their words to be their own – by putting into practice what they’ve been […]
Hello there, This is a time of year that is often difficult for most. The high of the holidays is gone, financials have been stretched, there is a lack of sun for many northern climates, there is no time off, etc… This year, all of this is compounded with the effects of the pandemic of course, and as a species […]
Hello there, For those of you who are tracking, this post is the 104th post of what we used to call Practical Exercises of the Week (PEotW), which has since been rebranded as Stoicism for a Better Life. In other words, I’ve been doing this for exactly two years. It has been a pleasure hearing all the great stories and […]