It could be said that the history of Stoicism is the history of brave men and women fighting and conspiring against tyrants. Brutus led the conspiracy against Julius Caesar. His wife’s father, Cato, fought bravely in the Roman Civil War against Caesar. Thrasea, Rubellius Plautus, Barea Soranus and Musonius Rufus conspired against Nero and were […]
In Giovanni Paolo Cimerlini’s etching “The Aviary of Death,” a skeleton perched on a rock is setting a series of snares. The snares look like they are for birds, but they aren’t. These snares are for the group of people lounging and enjoying themselves in the foreground of the park. One man plays a flute. […]
This Sunday marks an interesting day in Roman history, it’s on that day 1,880 years ago that Emperor Hadrian adopted Antoninus Pius, a 51 year old man, as his son and successor to the throne. His adoption of Antoninus was conditional—it required that Antoninus in turn adopt a 17 year old boy named Marcus Annius […]
We’ve all had that friend: the one who is perpetually planning. They have elaborate plans for their health, their finances, their work, their friendships, their relationships. Plan after plan after plan. And yet, time passes, and nothing changes. Epictetus posed the best retort to the “diet starts tomorrow” issue: “How long are you going to wait before […]
This is a guest post by Shawn Rana. Shawn is a digital analyst, musician, and world traveler. You can connect with him via LinkedIn or Facebook. Dry skin. Eczema. Staph infection. After a week in Costa Rica, these were just a few of the diagnoses doctors provided as they tried to determine why the skin […]
When Simon Drew couldn’t find a Stoicism podcast to help him apply Stoic practices and principles into his everyday life, he decided to start his own. Following Seneca’s precept that “men learn as they teach,” Simon has been going strong for over 50 episodes so far. He is a a musician, podcast host, blogger, coach, […]
It was today in 1965 that Malcolm X was gunned down while delivering a speech in a New York City ballroom. Perhaps the most controversial of the Civil Rights leaders, Malcolm was a complicated man. His early life was defined by crime, liqueur and violence and it was a story that ended, as it ends […]
Frederick Douglass is one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. Born into slavery, he faced his enslavers and dared them to keep whipping him. He taught himself to read and then he escaped to freedom. His memoir was a massive bestseller and his political influence was such that he became the most photographed man in America, […]
The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn has written about how our denial of impermanence is what makes anger and resentment possible. We think we have unlimited time, and therefore the luxury of being mad at someone, or furthering some feud. “If we spend twenty four hours being angry at our beloved,” he wrote, “it is because we are ignorant […]