Blog Posts

February 10, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Train Yourself in Three Areas of Study

1. Not everything that is difficult is suitable for training. We should train hard on things that are important to us. 2. Training should be tailored for each person, depending on where they are weak now.

February 7, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Remind Yourself of the Basic Principles

Whoever regards things that are not under their choice as good will be subject to envy and desire. They will flatter others and will be troubled. Whoever regards things that are not under their choice as evil shall be full of sorrow, will grieve, will lament, and will be unhappy.

February 3, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Train to Deal with Illness

1. The purpose of training is to prepare you to face hardships, including illness. 2. Illness is a part of life. We should have our judgements ready and available to us when we need them – as when we get sick.

January 31, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Restrain Your Desires

1. We constantly go after honours, but pay little attention to the nature of our judgements. 2. Constantly craving for more and more things leads to constant dissatisfaction. 3. The way out is to drop a few of your desires. Then you will get what you want.

January 27, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Train to Deal with Impressions

1. Train every day to deal with impressions 2. Good and bad comes from your choices. What you don’t have control over is neither good nor bad. 3. If you judge every impression by this criterion, you will see progress.

January 20, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Pleasures of the Mind are Superior to the Pleasures of the Body

Three things belong to human beings: body, mind, and externals. Of these, mind is the best.

January 17, 2018 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Where You Train, There You Find Results

1.Don’t spend time on one thing and expect results elsewhere. 2. A good person restricts his or her decisions to what is under their control. Such a person is invincible. 3. People tend to gravitate towards their natural object.

December 13, 2017 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Your Choices Shape Your Excellence

What makes an animal excellent does not make a human being excellent. Your superiority as a human being comes from your ability to reason. Adorn yourself as befits a human being. Your beauty comes from the nature of your choices.

December 9, 2017 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

The Woman Epictetus Made Rich

Epictetus was well-known during his lifetime and presumably taught many rich and powerful people (such as his student Arrian). Many of his students came all the way to Nicopolis in Greece from Rome, Italy, to study with him. And yet Epictetus lived a simple life.

September 27, 2017 - Ancient Stoicism in Plain English
Tag(s): Book Excerpts

Become Skillful in Correcting Contradictions (Epictetus’ Discourses in Plain English II.26)

People indulge in contradictory actions only because they don’t know they are being contradictory and believe what they do is right. If you point out their contradiction, they will change. If they remain unconvinced, it means that you are not skilled enough to show them their contradiction.