the daily stoic

M December 22nd STAKE YOUR OWN CLAIM “For it’s disgraceful for an old person, or one in sight of old age, to have only the knowl ...

S December 23rd WHAT ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF LOSING? “You are afraid of dying. But, come now, how is this life of yours anything bu ...

H December 24th MEANINGLESS... LIKE A FINE WINE “You know what wine and liqueur tastes like. It makes no difference whether a hu ...

O December 25th DON’T BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS “The mind must be given relaxation—it will rise improved and sharper after a ...

you’ve burned the candle at both ends? If you’ve been abusing and overworking your body? ...

N December 26th LIFE IS LONG—IF YOU KNOW HOW TO USE IT “It’s not at all that we have too short a time to live, but that we squan ...

D December 27th DON’T LET YOUR SOUL GO FIRST “It’s a disgrace in this life when the soul surrenders first while the body refuses ...

T December 28th ON BEING REMEMBERED “Everything lasts for a day, the one who remembers and the remembered.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, ME ...

T December 29th GIVE THANKS “In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good t ...

T December 30th TAKING THE BITE OUT OF IT “To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.” —SENECA, ...

T December 31st GET ACTIVE IN YOUR OWN RESCUE “Stop wandering about! You aren’t likely to read your own notebooks, or ancient hi ...

W STAYING STOIC e hope this book has lasted you a year (though we won’t fault you if you read through it without regard to the d ...

L A MODEL OF LATE STOIC PRACTICE AND GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS AND PASSAGES ate Stoic thought of the second century, as articulated ...

which has to do with the passions, for strong emotions arise only when we fail in our desires and aversions.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOU ...

Visit bit.ly/2dC85K1 for a larger version of this table. Adiaphora (ἀδιάφορα): indifferent things; neither good nor bad in an ab ...

and is completely free. A “beautiful human being” possesses the virtues (Discourses 3.1.6b–9). We must be a “unified human being ...

Askêsis (ἄσκησις): exercise, practice, disciplined training designed to achieve virtue. Epictetus sees three areas of training ( ...

Dikaiosunê (δικαιοσύνη): justice, righteousness. Diogenes Laertius noted that for the Stoics, it meant “being in harmony with th ...

anxiety (Discourses 2.13.1). Our judgments about what is up to us determine our freedom (3.26.34– 35). Epistêmê (ἐπιστήμη): cert ...

For in that is the key to everything. Whatever else remains, be it in the power of your choice or not, is but a corpse and smoke ...