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From Vol. 2, Issue 7, July 2020

Trust that life is governed by reason

Feature || SHARON LEBELL

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Dear Friend, 

I write to you as a mere person. Neither as sage, prophet, saint, nor leader, I nevertheless have learned invaluable lessons for a life well-lived. I humbly offer them as an abbreviated ethical will. 

The best ideas may have no gender and can potentially be adapted so as to be universally understood and applied

My dearest values and the prism through which I view my place in the world and my relationships with others were inspired by the teachings of men known as Stoics who preceded me by two millennia. That they were men is noteworthy. While the best ideas may have no gender and can potentially be adapted so as to be universally understood and applied, they are nevertheless transmitted through the stories, metaphors, and life experiences of one’s own sex. 

As a female, I had to test the teachings of these male ancients against my own life experience to see if they held up. I also wondered if these principles would be relevant to people of either sex who did not live in ancient times and to those who were not encultured in Western mythos or ethos. I further asked myself if Stoic teachings would be valua-ble to those who do not have the leisure to study, to philosophize, or to declaim from porches, as my predecessors did. 

Anyone can flourish with these nuggets as their personal cornerstone

After careful consideration, I have concluded that anyone can flourish with these nuggets as their personal cornerstone or as an adjunct to a more widely embracing personal philosophy, religion, or cosmology.

Here, my friend, in my own words, is the essence of Stoic philosophy as I understand it: 

My hope for you, my friend, is that your life will be always be grounded in this freedom which is yours for the taking. 


Sharon Lebell is the author of The Art of Living and is a member of our Advisory Board.