After hearing author Ryan Holiday on a podcast, I was intrigued with his knowledge of Stoicism and just how the philosophy aligned with my core values. After purchasing The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living and Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius I decided to document my journey. Here I will share my anecdote while learning and reflecting on Stoicism and how I plan to apply it to my life.
“What is your vocation? To be a good person.”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.5
“I can't call a person a hard worker just because I hear they read and write, even if working at it all night. Until I know what a person is working for, I can't deem them industrious. … I can if the end they work for is their own ruling principle, having it be and remain in constant harmony with Nature.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 4.4.41;43
“Work nourishes noble minds.”
- Seneca, Moral Letters, 31.5
“The first thing to do — don't get worked up. For everything happens according to the nature of all things, and in a short time you'll be nobody and nowhere, even as the great emperors Hadrian and Augustus are now. The next thing to do — consider carefully the task at hand for what it is, while remembering that your purpose is to be a good human being. Get straight to doing what nature requires of you, and speak as you see most just and fitting — with kindness, modesty, and sincerity.”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.5
“Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing.”
- Zeno, Quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, 7.1.26
“I'm constantly amazed by how easily we love ourselves above all others, yet we put more stock in the opinions of others than in our own estimation of self. … How much credence we give to the opinions our peers have of us and how little to our very own!”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.4