The Stoic Magazine Library

Social media and AI judge us all the time 

In the series Black Mirror, there’s an infamous episode, Nosedive, where the main character is judged minute-to-minute by the people around her. 

One of the major causes of our unhappiness is the gap between our expectations and reality. Stoics argued that reality is not under our control. So, instead of trying to reset reality, we are better off resetting our expectations. Our contributing editor, Meredith Kunz tells us how.

In this insightful article our contributing editor Meredith Kunz points out how little we really need to flourish. Drawing from her own personal experiences, she points out that some of her most memorable experiences occurred when she was living in a two-bedroom cottage with a broken window—a window she couldn’t fix because she couldn’t afford to. 

Editor 

Gun violence motivated by hate has devastated far more than one community. Whether it is in New Zealand or Pittsburgh, people across the world are filled with horror and disbelief. 

In Stoicism, you accept whatever happens to you as a given. When outsiders see this, they often assume that Stoics are passive, inactive, and gutless. 

Wrong. 

Competing to prove ourselves 

We tend to be self-centred. We constantly wonder what I should do if I fall ill, if I get angry, if someone is angry at me, if I don’t have enough money, if my coworkers are jerks, if my boss embarrasses me in front of others, if I fail to get the job I want … But while we are busy thinking about ourselves, life presents us with situations that we are not prepared for. Now what? Modern Stoics respond to our last month’s picture, the burning image of the Notre Dame Cathedral. 

My friend asked me a question about Stoic practice: “I know that in Stoicism, you don’t rely on external things for happiness. But if you stop counting on those things to make you happy, then is your default state to just be happy?” This really made me think. 

Everyone hurries his life on and suffers from a yearning for the future and a weariness of the present. But he who bestows all of his time on his own needs, who plans out every day as if it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the morrow. 

Seneca,  On the Shortness of Life 

Insects in amber 

When we look at our daily life, we see that we face an array of problems—financial, health, and our relationships. 

If anyone can refute me—show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective—I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance. 

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, VI, 21 

I seldom call myself a Stoic. Although I have been helped by Stoic principles all my life (I first stumbled on to Stoicism in my teens), no one close to me—not even my family or friends—knew that I had anything to do with Stoicism. I never talked about it. When I wrote my first book on Stoicism, Unshakable Freedom, they all wanted to know how I had known about Stoicism.

We are all physically vulnerable 

Humans have always been physically vulnerable. We are not born with huge teeth, curving tusks, or thick horns. We don’t have the advantage of size or strength compared with other creatures on Earth. And yet, through the use of our flexible brains, we have become the planet’s dominant species. It’s our mental fortitude that carried the day. 

Stoic principles can be used to solve our problems, big and small. But they can also be seen as a way of life, so it is always with us, warding off problems before they arise and offering us help if they still arise. 

Growing up, I was never a fan of habits. I tried to organize my life so that I wouldn’t be beholden to the daily movement of the clock. I rebelled against habits as basic as waking up early enough to get to school on time.