Hello there, For this week’s exercise let us draw inspiration from Epictetus’ Discourses III 16- 1-3: “It is inevitable if you enter into relations with people on a regular basis, either for conversation, dining or simple friendship, that you will grow to be like them, unless you can get them to emulate you. Place an extinguished piece of coal next […]
Hello there, For this week let us look for inspiration from Seneca’s writings on the tranquillity of the mind: “The mind must be given relaxation – it will rise improved and sharper after a good break. Just as rich fields must not be forced – for they will quickly lose their fertility if never given a break – so constant […]
Hello there, For this week, let us get back to some very core Stoic precepts with words from Epictetus’ Discourses II 1-12: “So if you don’t want to be cantankerous, don’t feed your temper, or multiply incidents of anger. Suppress the first impulse to be angry, then begin to count the days on which you don’t get mad.” I dare […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, I wanted to look at our Cynic cousins and reign in our efforts a little bit. It’s nice to be motivated and work towards being a better person with a sense of urgency. This should be our modus vivendi after all, since we want to do good but haven’t the slightest idea on how […]
Hello there, I hope you’re enjoying this warm and beautiful (at least where I am) Sunday! Let’s get straight to it so we can get back to our respective necessities. For this exercise, let us look at some words from Epictetus Discourses’ IV 1-2 15: “It doesn’t matter what the external thing is, the value we place on it subjugated […]
Hello there, I received a few messages appreciating the theme last week, so I will stick with another beast of philosophy for life Lau Tzu: “Do you have the patience to wait? Till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving? Till the right action arises by itself?” Translation: Even the muddiest water will turn clear […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, I am looking for some motivation to focus on the present moment (this is a huge part of what we try and accomplish on a day to day). To that end, I will reach out outside our school for some inspiration (as our school encourages us to do). This is from Gautama Buddha’s teachings […]
Hello there, For this week’s exercise, let us look at some words from Marcus Aurelius’ meditations XI 1-2: “These are the characteristics of the rational soul: self-awareness, self-examination, and self-determination. It reaps its own harvest…It succeeds in its own purpose…” Today’s lesson can essentially be boiled down to this: To be rational right now, it takes only three things: Look […]
Hello there, Our school teaches us that wisdom is to be found everywhere and is the domain of everyone so let’s find some inspiration for this week’s exercise with one of my favourite philosophers of recent time, Jean-Paul Sartre. Although he was big on existentialism and phenomenology, I find he also had a keen sense for cutting through the BS […]
Hello there, If you’re reading this then you are trying to improve yourself. And if that’s the case, then this lesson is for you. Here are some words from Marcus Aurelius to himself (and us) in his Meditations VI 30: “Do everything as a disciple of Marcus. Remember his disregard of empty fame, and his efforts to understand things; and […]