Marcus Aurelius wrote in his diary at some point during the Antonine plague—which spanned fifteen years of his reign—that history has a way of repeating itself. “To bear in mind constantly that all of this has happened before,” he said in Meditations. “And will happen again.” We had the opportunity to talk to Anthony Long—University […]
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man […]
BY RYAN HOLIDAY It began in the East. At least, that’s what the experts think. Maybe it came from animals. Maybe it was the Chinese. Maybe it was a curse from the gods. One thing is certain: it radiated out east, west, north, and south, crossing borders, then oceans, as it overwhelmed the world. The […]
Porcia Catonis (or Porcia “of Cato”), was the daughter of the renowned Roman Stoic philosopher Cato the Younger—an enemy of the dictator Julius Caesar—and his first wife, Atilia. She was known for her beauty and bold personality, as well as for her marriage (her second) to Marcus Junius Brutus, who famously took part in the […]
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t. What we have influence over and what we do not. “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under […]
In September of 1942, a young psychiatrist found himself standing in line just outside of a Nazi concentration camp. At the time, nobody knew the extent of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. Prisoners, who at first thought they were entering a temporary holding camp, quickly realized the hopelessness of their situation. Their personal […]
Peace of mind is something many look for, but few achieve. How wonderful it would be if we could be one of those fortunate souls that seem to be distrbed by nothing and nobody. People like Fred Rogers, the children’s television show host, who always seemed to have a serene expression on his face and […]