The Stoic Magazine Library

“The Cynics firmly established the responsibility of each individual to live a moral life, and the importance of self-discipline and indifference to pleasure or pain in the pursuit of virtue. They also established a tradition of questioning the validity of every assumption until proof can be found.”

“Everything has two handles, the one by which it may be carried, the other by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly, don't lay hold on the action by the handle of his injustice, for by that it cannot be carried; but by the opposite, that he is your brother, that he was brought up with you; and thus you will lay hold on it, as it is to be carried.” - Epictetus, Enchiridion, 43

Great wisdom traditions tell great stories. Stories help us learn and remember difficult or elusive ideas. Stories humanize complex concepts. And stories about people are relatable – especially if we can put ourselves in the shoes of the story’s character(s).

“So here’s to “what you make of it,” no matter what “it” is.”

“What are tragic stories except descriptions of people who went after external things that were not under their control, failed, and as a result, suffered?” - Epictetus, Discourses, 1.4

“A study led by researchers at Harvard confirmed what modern Stoics already knew: It’s not the situation itself that causes our emotional turmoil, it’s how we think about it..”

“Seeing can help us understand the urgent need to try to do something. I realize I can only do what’s within my power, but I hope I’ll find ways to learn and act,”

“I stop and remind myself daily that I have a singular shot at this life – both as a lover of knowledge, and as a human who dances, sings, and enjoys celebrating at the festival.”

We live in an age of measurement. Data is constantly being gathered about us and used to measure and predict how we behave. When we go online we are being tracked and assessed, feeding into marketing profiles. Even in the physical world, cameras are recording us, and our iPhones and smart watches absorb a huge amount of information about our activity, down to our stride length.

Striving for externals

Do with “genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly”

How can Stoic philosophy help us understand what it means to be free? It’s a question that has preoccupied Stoics both ancient and modern.

“There is no actual tomorrow.” My daughter said this to me as we talked about the way people experience time. It’s true: We’re always living in the right now, today. And we always seem to imagine that tomorrow will be just the same as today.

Happiness, wealth, and power

We can all think of people in public life who have accomplished big things and earned wide recognition, wealth, and power, even reaching the highest political offices or C-suite jobs.

Turning ourselves into better humans

The study of how to turn ourselves into better humans sometimes suffers from a lack of “hard evidence.” I am a science writer, and I always look for quantitative as well as qualitative data when evaluating any practice or behavior.