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“Almost everything – even if it is only incidental to something else – adds extra pleasure to someone who is sensitive and insightful about how the universe works.”

Socrates believed virtue couldn’t exist in half measures; would he have thought the same of joy?

I now know that my past actions and ways of thinking only brought struggle – to myself and to others. A life with joy is so much better.

From a strictly and literal Stoic perspective, that is a negative emotion, something bad for us to feel, not something to be encouraged or indulged in. But my experiences make me wonder whether there isn’t something also good to be gained when these emotions are felt in connection and conjunction with joy.

Remember: the present moment is all we have. Life is fleeting; moments slip away with every breath. Even when pondering the future, you are still forced into the present moment – you are simply trying to bring that very uncertain future right here and now, which cannot be done.

We may learn how to hold on to the adamant, indifferent attitude when it’s required, yet relax a bit in more pleasurable circumstances.

Stoic quotes for every day of the month