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What makes someone good at living? According to Epictetus, it’s neither wealth, nor high-office, nor being a commander. There must be something else. Just like someone who wants to be good at handwriting must practice and know a lot about handwriting, or someone who wants to be good in music must study music, someone who wants to be good at living, therefore, must have good knowledge of how to live. Makes sense, right? Seneca, another important Stoic philosopher we’ll get to know in Chapter 2, said that [the philosopher] is the one who knows the fundamental thing: how to live. There are three things in your composition: body, breath, and mind. The first two are yours to the extent that you must take care for them, but only the third is in the full sense your own.” Marcus Aurelius We must keep in mind that happiness depends more on what we make of what happens rather than what happens in the first place. No matter what happens to you, your mind is always available to turn it into good fortune by responding with virtue.
The author starts it off by saying that school doesn’t teach you how to live, and by the time he ends it he does a great job of filling in for our educational system :). Review Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will get. So each time you decide to overcome the initial hurdle and do practice, you train yourself in self-discipline and willpower. The central teaching of Epictetus was that there are things which are up to us and things which aren’t; we should always “make the best use of what is in our power, and take the rest as it happens.”Thinking way too much about TV series, funny fail videos, where to go on vacation, what to buy and other superficial activities is going to sabotage your existence. You can only advance in life by paying attention to the right things. We’re not born for pleasure. Just look at the plants, birds, ants, spiders, and bees—they go about their individual tasks. Do you hear them moan and complain? Nope, they do what they do, as best as they can. Day in, day out. But we human beings are not willing to do our jobs? We feel lazy. Unmotivated. Sluggish. There is certainly time to sleep and rest, but there’s a limit to that. own sake. The Stoic Love of Mankind: Actfor the Common Welfare We’re social creatures with a natural affection toward other people. Stoic philosophy is full of goodness, gentleness, love for human beings, and attention to the common good, says Seneca. The goal is to be useful, to help others, and to take care of ourselves and everybody else. The Stoics nurtured this idea that we should be concerned with other people, wish them to flourish, and develop a sense of kinship with the rest of mankind: Treat even strangers and those who oppose us as relatives— brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. We’re all citizens of the same world. This shared affinity forms the basis for mutual love and friendship. A person cannot attain anything good for himself, says Epictetus, “unless he contributes some service to the community’.” That’s the nature of the social and rational animal we are. We’re designed to live among other human beings, very much like bees, says Musonius Rufus: “A bee is not able to live alone: it perishes when isolated.” And Marcus conveniently adds, “What brings no benefit to the hive brings none to the bee.” Our actions must benefit the common welfare, or they won’t benefit ourselves. We’re like a massive organism: all depending on one another. Our social duty is to feel a concern for all mankind, to work together, and to help each other. “For all that I do,” says Marcus, “should be directed to this single end, the common benefit and harmony.” We cannot express our highest selves without at the same time contributing to the common good. If we seek the very best in ourselves, we will actively care for the wellbeing of all other human beings. The best for others will be the best for you. It’s not that we are social in the sense that we like being around other people, it’s in the deeper sense that we couldn’t exist without the help of others. Therefore, when we do good to others, we actually benefit ourselves. Benefiting others is a form of virtue, and it ultimately benefits ourselves as virtue is its own reward. Now that you know doing good to
If you want to get an overview of Stoicism, from its history to its most life-changing ideas, this is your book. Easy. Well, at least easy in terms of understanding and remembering the principle. But surely extremely hard to execute. It started with Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, and got more impetus thanks to popular recent authors such as Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is The Way. You and I, we’re responsible for our own flourishing. We’re responsible for not letting our happiness depend on external circumstances—we shouldn’t let the rain, annoying strangers, or a leaking washing machine decide upon our wellbeing. Otherwise, we become helpless victims of life circumstances out of hand. As a Stoic student, you learn that only you can ruin your life and only you can refuse to let your inner self be conquered by whatever nasty challenge life throws at you.
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Positive psychology, by accident or by influence, is also helping the spread of Stoicism by confirming with “recent” studies what Stoics have been saying and practicing millennia ago -Salzgeber says a good start on positive psychology is “ The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor-.
A crucial tenet of Stoicism is that of not allowing external circumstances of dictating our moods, happiness, and mental states.The Little Book of Stoicism is a Stoic book for the modern men and women. Jonas Salzgeber analyzes the most famous teachings of Stoic gurus and presents us with 55 practical implementations of these timeless principles. I love the idea of looking at life as a big training. It helps develop a growth mindset, lowers the pressure, improves your performance and, finally, it increases your ability to learn from your mistakes. Stoic Quotes
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