The Stoic Magazine Library

The year is 180 AD. As another long and difficult winter draws to a close on the northern frontier, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius lies dying in bed at his military camp in Vindobona (modern-day Vienna). Six days ago he was stricken with a fever, and the symptoms have been worsening rapidly. 

Marcus Aurelius was a keen observer of everyday life. As we saw in the March issue of THE STOIC, Marcus turned his everyday experiences into metaphors for the art of living. In this article, Donald Robertson explains how Marcus also turned everyday experiences into philosophical metaphors. 

Chuck Chakrapani, Editor 

Big idea 5. Examine impressions before accepting

In the TENTH chapter of his discourse ON THE HAPPY LIFE, Seneca tells us that, to be happy, we should stop pursuing pleasure, but instead pursue virtue. This is an excerpt from Stoic Happiness, a plain English version of Seneca’s On the Happy Life, published by The Stoic Gym. 

https://amzn.to/2I0mbVW 

Everything Marcus Aurelius inherited from his father, he gave to his sister. 

This is the second chapter of Seneca’s discourse, On Tranquility. In this exchange with his young protege Serenus, Seneca expands on the following key ideas

Ancient Stoic texts in modern English.

The worst of all is to leave the ranks of the living before dying

Ancient Stoic texts in modern English.

“We should think very carefully about the appropriateness of our lifestyle choices to make sure they are consistent with our values”

In her new book, JOURNAL LIKE A STOIC, Brittany Polat, our contributing author, offers a practical course on Stoicism.

Extracts from Journal Like a Stoic by Brittany Polat, published by Zeitgeist, 2022. Reproduced with permission from the author and the publisher. https://amzn.to/3B79zpc