Stoicism is supposed to be a living, breathing thing. Not just words you look at on a page once, but something you carry with you—something you use to live. So that, as Seneca put it, the “words become works.” And he also urged us to take the words he and the other Stoics had written and find real uses for them: “Take charge and stake your own claim—something posterity will carry in its notebook.”
As we’ve built up this site and thought about the ways we could help spread Stoicism, we’ve tried to honor the insights of Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca and Epictetus as well as staking our own claim and making our own contributions. One of the best ways we’ve been able to do that is coming up with creative and beautiful objects to serve as daily reminders of the most important Stoic practices. Each one of the products we’ve created has had that mission in mind: to bring Stoicism as a practice to ordinary people. We wanted to make things that we could actually use ourselves (we’ll leave the t-shirts to someone else).
It’s been truly inspiring to see thousands of people carry around our memento mori medallion in the past 6 months to create real perspective and urgency. Or seen the “Waste No More Time Arguing What A Good Man Should Be. Be One” poster on the gyms of football teams, in dorm rooms, in entryways and on office walls. There are more than 100,000 copies of The Daily Stoic in print now, and every morning, we use The Daily Stoic Journal along with the rest of you guys.
So as you’re thinking of a gift for your friends and family this holiday season, here are 23 ideas that can act as reminders not just in the new year, but in the years to come. Each helps spread the idea of Stoicism and may move a new wave of people closer to living the life they want.
The majority of these are from our own Daily Stoic Store, but we have also added other suggestions. Enjoy!
2020 CALENDAR
365 days of Stoic quotes featuring quotes from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus.
Use this calendar to prepare for the challenges and demands of 2020. Learn more here.
RINGS, MEDALLIONS, & COINS
The signet ring is a piece of jewelry that dates back as far as 6,000 years ago to ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and ancient Nubia. In the very earliest days of Rome, the signet ring was a practical component of Roman life. A man’s ring was engraved with the family crest and was used to seal and sign important documents, when pressed onto wax. Signet rings were destroyed when their owner died to eliminate the possibility of forgery.
Today, signet rings are used to help remind the wearer of an important symbol or message. The Daily Stoic signet ring is inspired by the French painter Philippe de Champaign famous painting “Still Life with a Skull,” which showed the three essentials of existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The inside is engraved with Marcus Aurelius’s timeless words: “You could leave life right now…” What’s left to the wearer is to repeat to themselves the final half of his quote: “…Let that determine what you do and say and think.” We must live NOW, while there is still time. Learn more here.
Our most popular item, the memento mori medallion has been added to the daily carry of thousands as a literal and inescapable reminder that “you could leave life right now.” The front features an interpretation of the three essentials of existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The back shows a quote from Marcus Aurelius “You could leave life right now.”
Each coin is shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
Perhaps the most radical idea in all of Stoicism: Sympatheia is the belief in mutual interdependence among everything in the universe, that we are all one. You will find this link between all beings throughout the works of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca. In Meditations, a book written only to himself, Marcus refers to the common good more than 80 times, self-identifying not just as a citizen of Rome, but of the World. Sympatheia is an invitation to us to take a step back, zoom out and see life from a higher vantage point than our own.
The front shows the famous 1972 “Blue Marble” earth, which instantly changed man’s perspective on himself. It is a view Marcus Aurelius could only imagine but still understood. The image is a prompt to zoom out of your own bubble and see the world as a whole and understand the interdependence of everyone on it. The back features Marcus’s timeless wisdom: “Revere the gods, and look after each other. Life is short—the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.”
Each coin is shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
Amor fati (Latin: “a love of fate”) is a mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens: Treating each and every moment—no matter how challenging—as something to be embraced, not avoided. The flame on the front of the medallion is inspired by Marcus Aurelius’s timeless wisdom: “a blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” The back features an excerpt of the great philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s formula for greatness: “Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.”
Each coin is shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
The Obstacle Is The Way Medallion
Marcus Aurelius would say that the Stoic finds a way to turn every negative into a positive. The things that test us make us who we are. The Stoic grows stronger and better with every obstacle they face. They rally to every challenge and thrive as a result. To keep this in mind, we’ve created The Obstacle Is The Way medallion to carry with you. The front features a great mountain. The back shows Marcus’s enduring words: “The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way becomes the way.”
Each coin is handcrafted in the United States by a custom mint operating in Minnesota since 1882. Each coin is then shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
Premeditatio Malorum Medallion
Premeditatio malorum (“the pre-meditation of evils”) is a Stoic exercise of imagining things that could go wrong or be taken away from us. It helps us prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks and develop resilience in the face of uncertainty. We don’t always get what is rightfully ours, even if we’ve earned it. Not everything is as clean and straightforward as we think they may be. The premeditatio malorum medallion is designed to keep us prepared–and strengthen us for any possibility. The back features part of Seneca’s quote “All the terms of our human lot should be before our eyes.”
Each coin is handcrafted in the United States by a custom mint operating in Minnesota since 1882. The coin is shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
Inspired by the international bestseller Ego Is The Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Ego is that outsized sense of self-importance, that malignant self-absorption, a belief that one is somehow inherently better and entitled to more than everyone else, what NBA Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley famously called “the disease of me.” Whatever we’re doing in life–whether we’re aspiring to do something, experiencing success or in the middle of difficulty–ego is the enemy every step along the way. We hope that by carrying this medallion, you’re able to protect yourself against your greatest foe — your own ego.
Each coin is shipped in a velvet ring box with an accompanying information card, explaining the practice to anyone receiving the coin. Learn more here.
Summum Bonum is an expression from Cicero, Rome’s greatest orator. In Latin, it means “the highest good.” And what is the highest good? What is it that we are supposed to be aiming for in this life?
To the Stoics, the answer is virtue. If we act virtuously, they believed, everything else important could follow: Happiness, success, meaning, reputation, honor, love. The Stoics didn’t claim this path was easy, or that it would always be recognized or appreciated by those closest to us, only that it was essential. Our goal in creating this medallion is that you will feel its weight in your pocket and remember that no matter the circumstance, no matter how dire or desperate, how straightforward or scary, virtue is the answer. Learn more here.
Get all 7 of our Daily Stoic medallions in one bundle and save $52 (that’s two coins FREE!) With all 7 of our Stoic totems, you can keep a different tenant close to mind each day of the week. Learn more here.
COURSES
Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge
Harry Truman once said that “not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
It’s true. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius prized the ability to “read attentively,” and used it to reign masterfully over his domain. The writer Seneca used his knowledge of Greek and Roman literature to become a sought after political advisor, and of course to shape his brilliant letters and plays, which survive to us to this day. Reading is the shortest, most established path to total self-improvement. We know intuitively that this is true—it’s why we all know we should read more. The question is: what active steps are we taking toward our better selves, to improve every aspect of our lives, to ensure success?
We’ve created an awesome new challenge, Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge, as a way of giving you an answer to that question. Learn more here.
Taming Your Temper: The 10-Day Stoic Guide to Controlling Anger
You might not have an “anger problem,” but that doesn’t mean anger is not a problem in your life. It’s a problem for basically everyone. According to a recent poll, 42% of Americans say that they are angrier now than they were last year. Another poll from 2018 found that 22% of Americans reported feeling angry “a lot” during the day, a 30% increase from the year before and a level not reached since 2011. There is almost no one whose anger hasn’t cost them something, who doesn’t admit it is an obstacle to their happiness.
Anger is one of the primal human emotions. Men and women have spent thousands of years grappling with anger: its causes, its effects, how it causes problems, and how to mitigate it. We have always known that left uncontrolled, anger can ruin your relationships, prevent you from achieving your goals, and keep you from living the life you want to lead. That is why we created Taming Your Temper: The 10-Day Stoic Guide to Controlling Anger. Learn more here.
BOOKS
Below are some books that would make great holiday gifts and serve as a great starting point for family and friends. For more book suggestions, check out our post “The Stoic Reading List: 3 Must-Read Books To Get You Started” as well as “28 Books On Stoicism: The (Hopefully) Ultimate Reading List.”
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman 
The Daily Stoic offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you’ll find one of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful glossary of Greek terms.
Want a more personal touch? You can get a signed copy at BookPeople.
The Daily Stoic Journal by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
The Daily Stoic Journal features fifty-two new Stoic disciplines or practices, one for each week of the year, along with a special introduction about the art of journaling. Each weekly practice is presented with advice and direction, along with a few quotes from the great Stoics to help focus your attention on the practice for the week. Each day presents a question to focus on in your morning preparations or evening review. Whether you need help with bad habits like complaining, procrastination, or a hot temper, or are looking to get stronger, wiser and braver, this journal is a tool to get you there.
Want a more personal touch? You can get a signed copy at BookPeople.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Meditations is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Trained in stoic philosophy, Marcus stopped almost every night to practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with. Well, now we have this book. It is imminently readable and perfectly accessible. You cannot read this book and not come away with a phrase or a line that will be helpful to you next time you are in trouble. Read it, it is practical philosophy embodied. Make sure you pick up the Gregory Hays translation from Modern Library. It is the most accessible edition—completely devoid of any “thou’s” and “shalls.”
PENDANTS
In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius wrote “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” That was a personal reminder to continue living a life of virtue NOW, and not wait. The French painter Philippe de Champaigne expressed a similar sentiment in his painting “Still Life with a Skull,” which showed the three essentials of existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The original painting is part of a genre referred to as Vanitas, a form of 17th-century artwork featuring symbols of mortality which encourage reflection on the meaning and fleetingness of life. With this beautiful memento mori pendant, keep this important thought in mind—a literal and inescapable reminder that “you could leave life right now.”
Each pendant designed with Proclamation Jewelry in Texas from Sterlium Plus – a sterling silver alloy that is scratch and tarnish resistant and maintains a brilliant silver color. They are oxidized to give the background a contrast from the high-polished text and design areas. The delicate but strong chains are made of genuine sterling silver darkened with oxidation for a classic vintage finish. Learn more here.
Friedrich Nietzsche would describe his formula for human greatness as “amor fati”—a love of fate: “That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.” In Meditations, Marcus Aurelius would say: “A blazing fire makes flame and brightness out of everything that is thrown into it.” Amor fati is a mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens. And now, you can carry around this powerful message with you everyday with our amor fati pendants.
Each pendant handcrafted in Houston, Texas from Sterlium Plus – a sterling silver alloy that is scratch and tarnish resistant and maintains a brilliant silver color. They are oxidized to give the background a contrast from the high-polished text and design areas. The delicate but strong chains are made of genuine sterling silver darkened with oxidation for a classic vintage finish. Learn more here.
PRINTS
Epictetus Print – “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”
The limited edition print is signed by New Orleans based artist Ron Domingue and hand-numbered to 500. The print features a screenprint of Ron’s Epictetus depiction and the quote “How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?” letterpressed into 11”*17” 100lb cover weight stock to give each print impressive depth and contrast. Learn more here.
Ego Is The Enemy Print (in collaboration with Joey Roth)
Designed in collaboration with Portland based artist Joey Roth, the print is inspired by the international bestseller Ego Is The Enemy. The print shows an interpretation of the following: humility is a knowledge of our weaknesses, confidence is a knowledge of our strengths, and ego is something dangerous with none of the former and a skewed sense of the latter.
Each print is hand-numbered out of 1,000 and letterpress printed on 11″ x 17″ Lettra stock. Learn more here.
Marcus Aurelius Print – “Waste No More Time Arguing What A Good Man Should Be. Be One.”
In collaboration with the acclaimed artist Nick van Hofwegen (AKA Young & Sick, creator of album covers for multiple Grammy award winning musicians like Foster the People, Maroon 5, and Robin Thicke), Daily Stoic produced an exclusive 11×17 print of Marcus Aurelius’s essential maxim: “Waste No More Time Arguing What A Good Man Should Be. Be One.” Learn more here.
Memento Mori Print
Inspired by our memento mori medallion and the three essentials of existence – the tulip (life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time), this 11 x 17″ print is letterpressed into thick 100lb French Kraft-Tone stock. Each print is made using the centuries old letterpress technique, stamping each image into the paper to give incredible detail and texture. Learn more here.
The Dance Of Death Print – “My arrow (I promise you) spares no one .You will all dance the ballet of which I sing”
A fantastic and haunting memento mori, this print is a recreation of a beautiful anonymous German engraving from 1635 that features a standing, smiling skeleton aiming a crossbow. An hourglass rests by his back foot. A broken arrow sits beside it and there is another one in the quiver. It was a piece of art designed to hang at eye level so that the arrow–the one locked and loaded into the crossbow–was pointing directly at the viewer. In French, the inscription reads:
“Ma flesche (asseure toy) n’espargnera personne
Vous danserez trestout ce balet, que je sonnne
My arrow (I promise you) spares no one
You will all dance the ballet of which I sing”
The symbolism is dark but it’s also absurd. Like life, and death. It can come and take us at any time, for the most ridiculous of reasons. This print, designed to hang at eye-level like the original engraving, is meant to help you remember–to smile and live life with urgency. Learn more here.
BUSTS
Marcus Aurelius bust from AnatolianHands on Etsy
This bust from Marcus Aurelius is made in Turkey and the seller has great reviews. It is created from marble powder and is made to order. You can learn more here.
Marcus Aurelius bust from GreekMarbleArt on Etsy
Another bust suggestion can be found at the GreekMarbleArt store on Etsy which also has fantastic reviews. It is also handmade and you can learn more about it here.
BONUS
Daily Stoic Life
Become The Best Version of Yourself
Daily Stoic Life is a global community of Stoic thinkers and practitioners dedicated to becoming the best versions of themselves. No matter your age, sex, religion, or social status, you can build a stoic practice and build a better life for yourself.
Membership includes exclusive daily email meditations, a hardcover book of the best stoic wisdom, a private learning community, quarterly Q&As with Ryan Holiday, and members-only discounts in The Daily Stoic store.
