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We should never forget the truly tremendous fact that Meditations carries the private thoughts of a man, Marcus Aurelius, during his reign as a virtual god, as the emperor of Rome. If ever there were a man qualified to think himself the center of the universe, Marcus Aurelius was it. And yet, the most powerful […]

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Could some ancient and obscure pages—the private diaries of one of Rome’s greatest emperors (Marcus Aurelius), the personal letters of one of Rome’s best playwrights and wisest power brokers (Seneca), the lectures of a former slave and exile, turned influential teacher (Epictetus)—really contain anything relevant to modern life? The answer, it turns out, is yes. […]

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Something may happen today that upsets you. Someone might be rude, your car could break down, an employee might mess something up despite your very careful instructions. Your instinct may be to yell and get angry. It’s natural. But just because it’s “natural” doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Remember Marcus Aurelius’ observation, “how much […]

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Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, including the block-buster New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project, Happier at Home, The Four Tendencies, and her newest book, Outer Order, Inner Calm. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, in more than […]

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Marcus Aurelius was born to a prominent and established family, but nobody at the time would have predicted that he would one day be Emperor of the Roman Empire. The emperor Hadrian was nearing death and chose Antoninus as his successor, with the condition that he adopt Marcus. And in 161, Marcus became the Emperor […]

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There is this constant feeling that there’s always something else we should be doing. We take a short vacation and there is this nagging guilt about the work we’re leaving undone. When we’re with our children, we think about our obligations and when we are busy with our obligations we think about how much we […]

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Online (and historically), Stoicism can appear to be a male-bent philosophy. This runs contrary to the fact that one of the founding members of Stoicism, Musonius Rufus, said that to study philosophy is simply for someone to “search out and consider how they may lead good lives.” This provoked by the question of whether women […]

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg was given a little piece of advice on her wedding day by her mother in law: “In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.” Ginsburg would say she applied it to her job too: “I have employed it as well in every workplace, including the Supreme Court. When a thoughtless […]

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As we talk about extensively here at Daily Stoic, philosophy is not just about talking or lecturing, or even reading long, dense books. In fact, it is something men and women of action use—and have used throughout history—to solve their problems and achieve their greatest triumphs. Not in the classroom, but on the battlefield, in […]

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