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.
“Above all, it is necessary for a person to have a true self-estimate, for we commonly think we can do more than we really can.”
- Seneca, On Tranquility Of Mind, 5.2
“An important place to begin in philosophy is this: a clear perception of one's own ruling principle.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 1.26.15
“When children stick their hand down a narrow goody jar they can't get their full fists out and start crying. Drop a few treats and you will get it out! Curb your desire - don't set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 3.9.22
“The soul is like a bowl of water, and our impressions are like the ray of light falling upon the water. When the water is troubled, it appears that the light itself is moved too, but it isn't. So, when a person loses their composure it isn't their skills and virtues that are troubled, but the spirit in which they exist, and when that spirit calms down so do those things.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 3.3.20-22
“Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain.”
- Epictetus, Discourses, 2.19.12b-13
“Another has done me wrong? Let him see to it. He has his own tendencies, and his own affairs. What I have now is what the common nature has willed, and what I endeavor to accomplish now is what my nature wills.”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.25