This is a guest post by Kai Whiting. Kai is the co-author of the recently released Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living in. Stoic philosophy is profoundly about sculpting your own character for the purpose of living what the Stoic founder, Zeno of Citium, referred to as the “good life”. However, by “good” […]
This is a guest post by Luke Burgis. Luke is the author of Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, which is now available for pre-order and releases on June 1st! “Mimetic desire” is a concept that originated with the French thinker René Girard. He believed that our desires are not entirely our […]
“It is clear to you, I am sure, Lucilius, that no man can live a happy life, or even a supportable life, without the study of wisdom.” — Seneca We know what you’re thinking. What do the Stoics know about being happy? Isn’t a Stoic resigned to whatever happens? Isn’t a Stoic supposed to be an […]
“It’s better to conquer grief than to deceive it.” Seneca, Consolation to Helvia, 17.1b Death and loss are recurring themes in the classic Stoic texts because they are recurring themes across all human life. People we love die, people we need die, people we don’t know die, and eventually, we will die ourselves. The […]
The struggle to find and hold on to motivation isn’t new. Consider the argument the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius has with himself in the opening of book 5 of his Meditations, written over two thousand years ago: At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work […]