My journal entry about worrying, and how it is useless. Hope this helps people as much as it helped me writing it.
Focus on the present moment. Worrying about tomorrow will not make tomorrow anything different than would otherwise be. The only way you can change what happens is by changing how you meet it. What else are you able to adjust otherwise? I have never seen anyone worry hard enough to change the future. I have tried that, and...
On Reflection
The difference between...
On Judgements
Today, you might meet...
How To Not Be Afraid of Criticism | Daily Stoic
No one likes to be found at fault. In fact, this is what many of us walk around fearing–that we’ll be exposed as imposters, we’ll be put on the spot in front of people, we’ll have to admit error. This makes us defensive, it makes us play it safe, and in some cases, it even makes us dishonest....
It’s Going To Take A While, So You Need To Do This | Daily Stoic
It takes a lot of flying time to become a certified pilot. It takes years on stage for a comedian to learn how to command an audience. It takes time to get sober, time in therapy to heal a marriage. No book is written overnight, and few fortunes are made in one swoop. No, they start small and accumulate, the power of compounding...
Very Little Is Needed | Daily Stoic
We think we need a lot to be happy. We think we need piles of money. And power. And fame. And to get that perfect house and to marry that perfect person. There are so many things we tell ourselves we have to have....
Amor Fati. “A Love of Fate.” | Daily Stoic
If Memento Mori is there to remind us of how little time we have, how temporary our existence can be—then what do we have to remind us of how powerful we can be, what we can draw on even in the face of events completely outside our control? It’s another Latin phrase embodied and practiced by the Stoics: Amor Fati or “a...
wojak compass of some stoic quotes
“Choose not to be harmed — and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed — and you haven’t been.”
Are You Proud Of This? | Daily Stoic
Oh, you’ve read the works of Heidegger? You finished all of Infinite Jest? You made it through all of Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning, all of Faulkner’s lesser works, Finnegan’s Wake and Ulysses?...
there's only now
the based emperor
You Must Play It Like A Game | Daily Stoic
Life may have big challenges in store for us. What’s more certain, as we talked about recently, is the ‘petty hazards of the day.’ We may find ourselves thrust in some crisis–a big political moment or some emergency that unfolds in front of us on the street. We will definitely experience traffic and obnoxious people and...
Do They Own You? | Daily Stoic
To the Stoics, there wasn’t anything wrong with having money. Marcus Aurelius came from money. So did Cato. Seneca came from money and also made a lot of it. In fact, pretty much all the Stoics except for Cleanthes and Epictetus were incredibly rich....
I. On Saving Time | Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter
Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius – set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words, – that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and...
The Biggest Lie In The World | Daily Stoic
You may well have said it yesterday, or overheard someone else saying it, “Oh, I’ll do it in the morning…I’ll do it after I wake up…I’ll get to it later…I just need to do this other thing first.”...
Turn Down These Voices Inside Your Head | Daily Stoic
It is not enough, of course, to simply tune out the noise around you. One can turn off social media. One can cultivate the quiet country life, as the Stoics did on occasion. One can ignore what is inessential, pay no attention to what makes no difference....
You Are The Solution To Your Problem | Daily Stoic
The girl couldn’t have been much older than four or five. It was one of those lazy, boring days and she was bothering her mother. She wanted attention. She wanted to be entertained....
The Only Part Of Your Reputation To Worry About | Daily Stoic
The Stoics were towering figures of their own time. Marcus Aurelius was cheered in the streets. Cato was widely admired. Musonius Rufus was called the Roman Socrates. Their reputations preceded them, as it should with anyone who takes their commitment to the virtues of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom seriously....
You Must Accept This | Daily Stoic
There was a message there in the mirror this morning. Did you see it? It must have been a strange experience for Marcus Aurelius the first time he saw it…waking up, looking at his reflection, and noticing his hair turning gray. Feeling his body creak. Looking at the crows feet at the corners of his eyes and the wild hairs...
Who Could Have Seen It? | Daily Stoic
Everything seems fine. Everything seems better than fine. Your life is going great. You’re happy. You’re in love. Your finances are great. But will it last? Or will Fortune, as Seneca said she is wont to do, surprise you with a reversal?...
This Is a Bad Way To Drive (and Live) | Daily Stoic
With the proliferation of dashcams and the spread of social media, we see these clips everywhere. It’s basically its own genre of video at this point. A driver is frustrated with someone going too slow in front of them, so they honk. Then they swerve, step on the gas to pass them–often waving a middle finger or honking a...
This Stoic Philosopher Died Laughing at Own Joke (theculturetrip.com)
rip Chrysippus
"When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval."
— Epictetus