The Stoic Magazine Library

The essence of Stoicism 

Epictetus says that the chief thing in life is to distinguish carefully between things that are up to us and things that are not. 

The Golden Rule 

The Golden Rule, “Treat others as you would like to be treated by them” is one of the simplest and most influential of all ethical principles. Although the Golden Rule is most commonly associated with Christianity, it was arguably also implicit in many traditions, including Stoicism. 

Ten Rules for Daily Life

Marcus is not impressed 

Marcus lived nearly five hundred years after Alexander died. Yet he’s still a figure who looms large for Marcus. He mentions Alexander five times altogether in Meditations. However, Marcus doesn’t revere Alexander for his military achievements, but views him from the perspective of Stoic philosophy, with a greater degree of cynicism regarding his love of conquest. Indeed, Marcus appears to have viewed Alexander’s legacy as short-lived. According to Herodian, another Roman historian: 

The ancient Stoic philosophers were very interested in food. They talk both about what we should eat and how we should eat it, if we want to live wisely and gain strength of character. For instance, Musonius Rufus often talked in a very forceful manner about food, on the grounds that food was not an insignificant topic and that what one eats has significant consequences. In particular, he thought that mastering one’s appetites for food and drink was the beginning of and basis for self-control. 

Think of others as yourself - How should a Stoic treat others? Here is a piece of advice from Hierocles:

As an infant, you're unable to speak and so can't question things logically. You follow your instincts and learn by copying people around you. 

People often ask me whether there’s any relationship between Stoic philosophy and Islam. The writings of arab Muslim scholar Al-Kindi may provide the best example of a more direct link between Islam and Stoicism.

Marcus Fronto, the tutor of Marcus Aurelius, talks about the pandemic that has been devastating the country. He says that death would be preferable under these circumsannces. Marcus Aurelius points out that death is a human experience common to every one of us and therefore cannot be good or bad.

The wise man, by contrast, doesn’t add to this initial spark of anger or perpetuate it any further.

Life is like a ball game – or some other game or sport – wisdom and virtue are like “being a good sport”, or being sportsmanlike and playing the game well.