How to Let Go of Your Emotions and Find Happiness
"This post originally appeared on Quora: What are some Stoic teachings on letting go?" The most important step in letting go is realizing that nothing has intrinsic value -- nothing is good or bad. In our daily lives, how we motivate ourselves is to think "some steak would be good right...
Why Stoicism Is Having a Cultural Moment
Stoicism is apparently popular again — at least, that’s how it appears, given the spate of recent popular books, articles and events on the topic. There’s Julie Beck’s essay from The Atlantic on the benefits of thinking about death like a Stoic, Oliver Burkeman’s book on the “negative path” to happiness that...
A Guide To The Good Life: An Interview With William B. Irvine
William B. Irvine is professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. For more on his life and writings, visit his author website at WilliamBIrvine.com There is the perception that practitioners...
10 Insanely Useful Stoic Exercises
Today I want to describe various Stoic exercises that you can do to develop a Stoic outlook on life. While this is obviously useful for the would-be Stoic, I think that everyone can benefit these exercises. If you don’t know much about Stoicism then here would be a good start, or...
Stoicism Isn’t Pessimistic. It’s Boldly Optimistic
When I was nineteen years old I was told to read a book: Meditations, by the stoic philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius. Of course, I didn’t fully understand it at the time, again I was a teenager, but I immediately tore the book apart and made a million notes on it. It...
The Stoic Art of Negative Visualization
A CEO calls her staff into the conference room on the eve of the launch of a major new initiative. They file in and take their seats around the table. She calls the meeting to attention and begins, “I have bad news. The project has failed spectacularly. What went wrong?”...
Who Is Marcus Aurelius? Getting To Know The Roman Emperor
This is part of our 3-part short series on the three most important Stoic philosophers: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus. Here you will find a short introduction to Marcus, suggested readings, three exercises/lessons from him as well as a selection of quotes. You can also read our introduction to Stoicism...
Five Reasons Why Stoicism Matters Today
For all the press that Bill Clinton has gotten for his epic, seemingly-half-improvised convention stem-winder, one of the most revealing lines has barely earned a mention at all. We were surprised to hear Clinton called Barack Obama “a man cool on the outside, but who burns for America on the...
Stoicism for Modern Stresses: 5 Lessons from Cato
Julius Caesar wanted to end him. George Washington wanted to be him. And for two thousand years, he was a singular subject of plays, poetry, and paintings, with admirers as diverse as Benjamin Franklin, the poet Dante, and the Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius. Yet, for all that, you’ve probably never...
Who Is Seneca? Inside The Mind of The World’s Most Interesting Stoic
This is part of our 3-part series on the three most important Stoic philosophers: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus. Here you will find a short introduction to Seneca, suggested readings, three exercises/lessons from him as well as a selection of quotes. You can also read our introduction to Stoicism if you...