Donald J. Robertson's Blog, page 51

Socrates and Theodote the Courtesan

Xenophon says that for a time an exceptionally beautiful high-class courtesan (hetaira) called Theodote lived in Athens, who had attracted a lot of attention.  She had become something of a celebrity, highly sought after as a model for painters.  One of his friends mentioned to Socrates that her beauty was “beyond description”.  Socrates replied that …

New: Free Email Course on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just launched a new email course about The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Enroll on The Meditations Email Course It consists of weekly emails, each containing one passage from The Meditations with my comments underneath.  It’s basically an open-ended course. Bonus: The first email contains links to a bundle of …

Jon Meacham on Marcus Aurelius

While I was researching my new book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, I stumbled across a Newsweek article about Marcus Aurelius, from 2010, written by author and political commentator Jon Meacham.  Meacham won a Pulitzer prize in 2009 for his biography of US president Andrew Jackson. Meacham’s article, A Case for …

Don’t Miss Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT) 2018

Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT) 2018 is now enrolling and due to start on Sunday 25th November, when enrollment will close.  Every year we get people contacting us to say they missed the enrollment window so please don’t miss out! SMRT is a FREE four-week course provided by Modern Stoicism, a nonprofit organization run …

Second Edition of Teach Yourself Stoicism is #1

The revised second edition of my Teach Yourself book Stoicism and the Art of Happiness was just released and it’s apparently gone to #1 in Amazon’s chart of new releases for the history of philosophy.

Writing “How to Think Like a Roman Emperor”

My new book about Stoicism comes out soon so I thought I’d say a bit about the process of writing it.  (Sometimes people ask me how I ended up writing these books or what the process is like.)  The book’s called How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius.  You can …

NEW: Free Email Course on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve just launched a brand new email course on The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.  It’s completely free of charge.  Everyone is welcome.  You can join at any time and you’ll start receiving the first email. Enroll now to obtain a whole bundle of extra freebies.  You’ll receive weekly emails with …

Now Enrolling: Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT) 2018

We’re pleased to announce that Stoic Mindfulness and Resilience Training (SMRT) will be running this year starting on Sunday 25th November.   This is a free course, open to everyone. The course lasts four weeks and enrollment has just opened but will close shortly.  So don’t miss out if you’re hoping to take part. Enroll on …

Free Crash Course in Stoic Pain Management (Beta)

The beta version of my new Crash Course in Stoic Pain Management is now available for those who want to enroll, test it out, and provide feedback.  Just follow the link to enroll – everyone is welcome. This is a free mini-course on Stoic techniques for pain management. It’s designed to provide a simple introduction …

Video: Four Emotional Resilience Strategies from The Stoic Socrates

Short video about four resilience strategies described by Socrates in Plato's Republic Book 10.