The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness

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gives us tlie power to make the best with the given circumstances. Every outside event, then, offers an area of our own control, namely what we make with that event. This is a true and fair amount of control, stemming from our ability to judge events as we choose to. Being able to choose means we have a choice, and having a choice means freedom. Let’s call this the freedom of choice, inspired by Viktor Frankl, who says in his book A Man’s Search for Meaning, “Everything can be taken from a man but one tiling; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances." Stoicism is a practical philosophy on how to improve our characters, control our mental states despite external circumstances and, overall, live a good life. own sake. The Stoic Love of Mankind: Actfor the Common Welfare We’re social creatures with a natural affection toward other people. Stoic philosophy is full of goodness, gentleness, love for human beings, and attention to the common good, says Seneca. The goal is to be useful, to help others, and to take care of ourselves and everybody else. The Stoics nurtured this idea that we should be concerned with other people, wish them to flourish, and develop a sense of kinship with the rest of mankind: Treat even strangers and those who oppose us as relatives— brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. We’re all citizens of the same world. This shared affinity forms the basis for mutual love and friendship. A person cannot attain anything good for himself, says Epictetus, “unless he contributes some service to the community’.” That’s the nature of the social and rational animal we are. We’re designed to live among other human beings, very much like bees, says Musonius Rufus: “A bee is not able to live alone: it perishes when isolated.” And Marcus conveniently adds, “What brings no benefit to the hive brings none to the bee.” Our actions must benefit the common welfare, or they won’t benefit ourselves. We’re like a massive organism: all depending on one another. Our social duty is to feel a concern for all mankind, to work together, and to help each other. “For all that I do,” says Marcus, “should be directed to this single end, the common benefit and harmony.” We cannot express our highest selves without at the same time contributing to the common good. If we seek the very best in ourselves, we will actively care for the wellbeing of all other human beings. The best for others will be the best for you. It’s not that we are social in the sense that we like being around other people, it’s in the deeper sense that we couldn’t exist without the help of others. Therefore, when we do good to others, we actually benefit ourselves. Benefiting others is a form of virtue, and it ultimately benefits ourselves as virtue is its own reward. Now that you know doing good to

Salzgeber says that we must strive to be our best selves for ourselves and for the pleasure of withholding our values. accessible, digestible, and highly functional way. In the first part, you’ll learn about the promise of the philosophy, its history, main philosophers, and about the core principles presented as the Stoic Happiness Triangle. Study that triangle and you’re able to explain the philosophy to a five-yearold. The second part is all about hitting the waves; it’s crammed with practical advice and exercises for everyday living. My ultimate aim of this direct and straightforward approach to Stoicism is to help you live a better life. I believe we can all become a little wiser and happier by practicing this wonderful philosophy. It’s time to dive in. Salzgeber dedicates a major portion of his work to teaching the readers how to become practicing Stoics. highest self This promise of eud aim onia entails that we’re armed with all we need to deal with whatever challenge we’re facing in life. How else can we stay happy even when life gets tough? Because life is pretty easy when things are going well, it only gets arduous when things seem to turn against us, when we’re facing difficulties and struggles. This brings us to the second promise of Stoicism: Philosophy trains us to be able to take on every obstacle in life with the right m indset so that life keeps on going s moothly.All the adversities you’re facing in your life, these are tests. It’s mere training. Life isn’t supposed to be easy, life is supposed to be challenging to make sure you actually grow. Focus on what you can control: The root cause of our misery lies in our ambition to change things we can’t. Stoics spotted this flaw in our behavior years ago. That’s why they extensively talk about accepting what happens to us without complaining and focusing only on things we can control – our daily actions. If we look around, we see countless people who pursued their dreams of a golden mansion, a Porsche 911, and a six-figure job, and yet they’re not happier than before with the moldy flat, the rusty old car, and the cheap job. They’re living by a formula that looks something like this: If you work hard, you’ll be successful, and once you’re successful, then you’ll be happy. Or, if I finish/get/achieve such and such, then I’ll be happy. The only problem? This formula is broken. And after following this formula for years, these people are wondering: Is this really all life has to offer? Maybe you’ve stumbled upon a smart quote by an ancient Stoic philosopher or you’ve read an article that shared some inspiring Stoic ideas. Maybe you’ve been told about that helpful and flourishing old philosophy by a friend or you’ve already studied a book or two about Stoicism. Or maybe, although chances are very low, you’ve never even heard about it before. Aurelius, emperor of the legendary Roman Empire. He is the most wellknown of all the Stoic philosophers and his Meditations, a series of 12 short books which he wrote entirely to himself (like a diary) as his own guidance and self-improvement, is considered one of the greatest works of philosophy of all time. As a teenager, it's said Marcus not only enjoyed activities such as wrestling, boxing, and hunting, but also philosophy. He studied with different philosophers, one of which lent him a copy of Epictetus’ Discourses, which became the single most important influence on him. When he was sixteen, Emperor Hadrian adopted Marcus’ maternal uncle Antoninus, who in turn adopted Marcus (his real father died when he was younger). When Marcus entered palace life, his political power didn’t go to his head (he didn't let it), neither as a co-emperor of his adoptive father nor as an emperor himself after Antoninus’ death. For one thing, he exercised great restraint in his use of power and money. Furthermore, despite his interest in Stoic philosophy, he chose not to use his power to preach Stoicism and lecture his fellow Romans on the benefits of its practices. He was ail exceptionally good emperor and ruled from 161 CE to his death in 180 CE and counts as the Zast of a succession of rulers known as the Five Good Emperors.

The Stoics natured this idea that we should be concerned with other people, wish them to flourish, and develop a sense of kinship with the rest of mankind: Treat even strangers and those who oppose us as relatives—brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. We’re all citizens of the same world. This shared affinity forms the basis for mutual love and friendship. can at least try to make the rational decision. This will make it way easier to master yourself, act rationally, and make progress toward the happy and smoothly flowing life. And it will prevent you many times from getting carried away by irrational emotions, and you'll step into folly (and dog shit) less frequently. Step by step, you get ahead. We don’t have the luxury of postponing our training, because unlike the Olympic Games, the contest we participate in every day—life—has already begun. Life is right now, it’s about time to start our training. Philosophy is all about applying its principles to the real world. Remember, we want to be warrior-philosophers and put into practice what we learn. Now, this perfect actualization of our highest selves might not be too hard to express in single situations or in our imagination, but drag us out in the real world and we fail miserably. And that’s ok, that’s what we’re here for, learning about ourselves and how to express our highest version moment to moment to moment. That’s why we re tiying to get better, that’s whyBut that’s also the beauty of it: since it’s such a sweet journey, walking the path is a reward in itself. You Must Only Do Your Best How long are you going to wait before you demand the best of yourself? You’re no longer a child but a full-grown person, and yet you procrastinate, Epictetus reminds himself. You will not notice that you are making no progress but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary. From now on, he warns himself, and all of us, to live like a mature human being and never set aside what you think is best to do. And whenever you encounter anything difficult, remember that the contest is now, you are at the Olympics, you cannot wait any longer. Self-discipline is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will get. So each time you decide to overcome the initial hurdle and do practice, you train yourself in self-discipline and willpower. we need to be on good terms (eiz) with our inner daimon, the highest version of ourselves, our natural inborn potential. In whatever you do, imagine there are two lines: the higher line indicating what you’re capable of and the lower line what you’re actually doing. Living with arete is about tiying to reach the higher line and express what you’re capable of in this very moment. That’s actualizing the highest version of yourself, that’s being on good terms with your inner daimon, that’s when you achieve the happy and smoothly flowing life called eudaimonia. Part 2 55 Stoic Practices “Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others. - Seneca.

The Little Book of Stoicism is a Stoic book for the modern men and women. Jonas Salzgeber analyzes the most famous teachings of Stoic gurus and presents us with 55 practical implementations of these timeless principles. Areté directly translates as “virtue” or “excellence,” but it has a more profound meaning—something like “expressing the highest version of yourself in every moment.”

My Highlights

and smoothly flowing life-like a grapevine that produces grapes. On the other hand, it's our heaviest burden, because if we fail to live by it, we fall to the level of a beast, negate our humanity, and won’t live a happy life— much like a grapevine that fails to produce edible grapes. For the Stoics, then, it’s reasonable to always try to be the best you can be. We all have this seed of reason, this seed of our highest self, planted within. And therefore, we’ve got the potential to live a virtuous life—that is, a life led by reason and expressing our ideal self. This expression shows as generally honorable and praiseworthy actions that benefit ourselves and others. As learned earlier, virtue is for all living beings the perfection of their own nature; in the case of humans, then, virtue is the perfection of reason. Put differently, living with arete is the perfection of expressing our highest self in every moment. Remember, living with arete, virtue, reason, and in agreement with nature are all different expressions for the same goal. In Stoic philosophy, it’s clear that the perfection of reason not only included rational, but also social actions in the form of duties to our fellow men, such as honoring our parents, being agreeable to our friends, and being interested in the wellbeing of mankind. As rational and social creatures, we should therefore apply reason and express our highest selves to three main areas of life: 1. Our own mind: As human beings with the ability of reasonable thinking, we should consider our actions rationally and wisely, and at all times try to be the best we can be. 2. With other people: As social beings who naturally care for each other, we should try to live harmoniously with others and contribute to the wellbeing of mankind. 3. In the universe: As citizens of the vast cosmos, we should tiy to live harmoniously with nature, calmly accept events that happen to us, and tiy to respond wisely. I know, this whole arete, virtue, reason, and fulfilling our nature idea is And that’s exactly what the ancient world philosophy used to be helpful for: a practical school of thought to help people lead better lives. Your goal is not perfection. Your goal is “only” to act with your best intentions and to do your best, given the constraints of your current knowledge and circumstances. There are three things in your composition: body, breath, and mind. The first two are yours to the extent that you must take care for them, but only the third is in the full sense your own.” Marcus Aurelius A lot of texts on Stoicism fail to give a clear-cut answer to what exactly this philosophy is. But not Jonas Salzgeber.