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Stoicism and the Art of Happiness (Teach Yourself)

Donald J. Robertson (Goodreads Author)

4.11 · Rating details · 965 ratings · 85 reviews

This new guide to finding a happier way of life draws on the ancient wisdom of the stoics to reveal lasting truths and proven strategies for enhanced wellbeing. By learning what stoicism is, you can revolutionise your life, learning how to - properly - 'seize the day', how to cope in the face of adversity, and how to come to terms with whatever situation you're in.

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Paperback, 256 pages

Published August 30th 2013 by Hodder Education (first published January 1st 2013)

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Apr 01, 2014 Michael A rated it liked it

Much like William Irvine's book, this book, too, is more of a self-help book than a book on the actual philosophy. Some aspects of Stoicism are covered in synopsis form, but a lot of it is simplified and, even so, a lot of the original Stoic principles leave me a bit baffled. Why is rationality to be so prized? Why are virtue and this exalted sense of "happiness" living in accordance to nature so valuable? Why should anyone take a straw-man concept like the Stoic Sage seriously? These are just a Much like William Irvine's book, this book, too, is more of a self-help book than a book on the actual philosophy. Some aspects of Stoicism are covered in synopsis form, but a lot of it is simplified and, even so, a lot of the original Stoic principles leave me a bit baffled. Why is rationality to be so prized? Why are virtue and this exalted sense of "happiness" living in accordance to nature so valuable? Why should anyone take a straw-man concept like the Stoic Sage seriously? These are just a couple of examples, but there are many more.

When Stoicism first appeared whole under Chrysippus, it was an entirely different beast from what it became later under the pen of a Seneca or a Marcus Aurelius. Marcus, Seneca, and, to some extent, Epictetus took it and made a heavy ethical practice out of it focused on a correct view of self in regard to one's own nature, the externalities of the world around one, and a sense of duty to the community of like-minded people in the world. Or at least this is what I've come to understand. Prior to this, except for maybe Zeno's Republic, it seemed very different. In the case of Chrysippus, he developed an intricate mess of logic and a new system of psychology that tied into a larger world-view of fate. There was not a strong sense of social duty to it, only an emphasis on trying to live a life according to nature and fate. The social duty seemed to come later, after a couple of generations of thinkers had died and been replaced by new thinkers, inspired in part by Plato.

So I think books on Stoicism tend to take a couple of differing paths of how they represent Stoicism as a whole. Academic sources try for a reconstruction or overall analysis of the whole as well as it can be understood -- some readers complain these are too dry or boring or impractical to be worth reading. Despite these flaws, I think they are valuable for providing general information. Other books like this cherry-pick psychological strategies and quotes out of the whole, putting it all together as a form of self-help for today's reader.

Some of this is good advice, of course. I have found it so, too, else I would not have picked this book up in the first place. And since the author is a psychologist, he does a good job of describing relevant strategies and how to implement them in one's life. He has written about a couple of strategies here I especially like -- the view from above and the need to meditate and self-evaluate, in addition to the usual emotional control strategies and a sense of duty to fellow human beings. However, a part of me wanting to know MORE about Stoicism itself is disappointed. As this book uses the heavily ethical view of later Stoicism, a lot of its earlier aspects are ignored. For a book supposed to explain Stoicism first, I find that a big flaw. The other problem is its repetitiveness. Some strategies seem to be re-packaged several times under different names -- that of evaluating things beyond one's control and in one's control, for instance, becomes disciplining action, desire, and judgement.

I'd recommend this to you if you're looking for strategies to deal with stress and unwanted emotions and perhaps a sense of direction in life.. I wouldn't recommend it so much as a source of information on Stoicism as a philosophical system.

...more

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Aug 25, 2017 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent Introduction to Stoicism

I found myself highlighting something almost every page. It took me a few years to read. There is much to contemplate and practice, but even as a beginner it has brought increased peace to my life.

"But all excellent things are as difficult as they are rare." (Spinoza, Ethica, 5.42n)

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Aug 12, 2017 Brett rated it did not like it

Shelves: never-finished

This book was so hard to read. It is written from the perspective of picking it up and flipping to any section to read in short bursts. Due to this, it is really repetitive.

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Jun 07, 2016 Shalyn rated it did not like it · review of another edition

The content seemed very repetitive; that was my primary reaction to this book. I also disagree with much of the advice the book provides. The author makes frequent references to psychology's Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as if that should lend some credibility to this work, but it is my understanding from a couple of therapists that CBT is not for everyone and can be easily misapplied even by therapists who (theoretically) know what they're doing. Hence, CBT is not something to DIY.

The author ad The content seemed very repetitive; that was my primary reaction to this book. I also disagree with much of the advice the book provides. The author makes frequent references to psychology's Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as if that should lend some credibility to this work, but it is my understanding from a couple of therapists that CBT is not for everyone and can be easily misapplied even by therapists who (theoretically) know what they're doing. Hence, CBT is not something to DIY.

The author advocates not expressing elevations of joy or sadness, and while stoics do tend to keep their emotions in check, that practice is over-emphasized both in this book and in stereotyping stoicism. Eliminating expression of elevations of emotion prevents a person from both fully experiencing life as well as from connecting with other people. Humans are built for connection, and we are more likely to connect on an emotional level, so it would be counterproductive to our mental and emotional health to limit our expression and experience of emotions.

The author advocates imagining a negative situation so that you can be emotionally prepared for it. Such a practice is in fact not at all helpful and can even be hurtful. A therapist friend of mine calls this "borrowing trouble from the future." It doesn't make the coming trouble any easier emotionally or mentally; it just makes the here-and-now sadder and more difficult. This is the problem with worry also: worrying about what might happen in the future doesn't make the future easier to manage, but only makes the present more stressful.

The author says people get stage fright because they value other people's opinions higher than they value their own. While valuing someone else's opinion more highly than your own is not usually healthy, if you're a performer trying to make a living from your art, the audience's opinion is absolutely worthy of consideration. If you want to be invited to perform again -- especially if you want to get paid for performing -- the audience has to like what you do.

The author says it's not the thing that bothers you but your impression of it, and he uses the example of: it's not death that bothers you, it's your fear of death that bothers you. Well...maybe. Personally, I don't like snakes because I find them unpredictable, so maybe there is an argument to be made that my dislike is not of snakes but my perception of snakes as being unpredictable. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, I still don't like snakes, I still find them unpredictable, and I still don't like their unpredictability; hence, I do not like snakes. The author's argument in this regard is not effective. Perhaps it is the pragmatist rather than the stoic in me, but one's perception of a thing is reality for that person, and fears are not something we "get over" through rational practice.

The author also makes constant references to things being "good" and "bad." A better practice would be to avoid those terms all together because they are so vague. What is "good" or "bad" to one person may not be "good" or "bad" to another. His overuse of "good" and "bad" took away from the value of his arguments for a stoic approach to life.

The one thing I really liked about this book was the author's advice on meditation. Meditation can be difficult for someone whose mind is constantly active with thought, and quieting the mind and dismissing thoughts can seem impossible sometimes. The author suggests imagining yourself by a stream with leaves gently falling on the water and floating by you. As thoughts pop into your mind, imagine yourself putting each thought on a leaf in the stream and letting it float away. I have found this practice helpful. However, this one piece of helpful advice does not make up for all the other shortcomings this book has. (And now that I've shared this bit of advice with you, I dare say there's little need to read the book -- ha! ha!) ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Marcus Norberg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: självutveckling, filosofi

I have read the three classic Stoic philosophers (Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca) before this book, but I had not really grasped all the Stoic theories and thoughts. This book really got the Stoic message through. It had a lot of quotations from ancient philosophers aswell as modern uses of the philosophy in life and in therapy. It had stuff I really will consider and use in my everyday life.

Although I really enjoyed the book it was kind of repetitive at times, which made for a slow readi ...more

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Nov 02, 2017 GoodBeer rated it really liked it

Kind of redundant; I think the book could have been trimmed down to a 1/4 of its current size. The author says things like "The Stoics believed..." but doesn't necessarily give a logical argument for those beliefs.

Overall a good read besides those two things.

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Jun 03, 2017 Sabrina rated it liked it

Shelves: self-help, philosophy

Donald Robertson has published an excellent overview of Stoic ethics and interpreted it for the modern reader without losing much authenticity in the process. He not only quotes Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, etc. but new popularisers such as William Irvine, and also describes how the Stoic philosophy relates to CBT. Any myths about stoicism like not being emotional were carefully argued against, and Robertson was moderated in his rhetoric instead of making you feel inadequate like a lot of ...more

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May 22, 2014 Chris Paxton rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great breakdown:

My only complaint is that the book continually pushed CBT and got more into the modern psychological implications of stoicism than how to actually live the stoic ideal. However, that was only a minor nuisance compared to the overall text and the quality job it did in outlining stoic philosophy. I did find the self examination sections at the beginning of each chapter to be excellent lead ins for the reading. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has experience with sto ...more

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Aug 15, 2018 Zia Okocha rated it it was amazing

Wanted to give it a 5 but didn’t get the e book and felt a little cheated about Stoic contemplations on death. Still would give this like a 4.5 due to thoroughness and ease of reading. Also gave me a lot more philosophers to read.

I like the connections made between Buddhism and CBT and thing that this is very relevant to today.

Edited-
Updated review to reflect having read the chapter on death. Super useful.

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May 28, 2018 Kyle rated it it was amazing

LOVE. Will reread for sure - 4.5/5

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Jul 12, 2018 Henry Manampiring rated it it was amazing

A systematic and structured introduction to Stoicism.

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Jul 27, 2020 Edwin Setiadi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: stoicism

Lessons from the 1st Stoa

Modern Stoicism is largely based on the wonderful thinking of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca through their “main 3 books” of Meditations, Discourses, and Letters, respectively. This is because these books are only a handful of surviving bodies of Stoic writings left that are almost fully intact (with only 4 books out of 8 of Discourses survived).

But these 3 wise philosophers were all part of the so-called 3rd Stoa, the 3rd generation of “Late Stoa” in Rome. So wh Lessons from the 1st Stoa

Modern Stoicism is largely based on the wonderful thinking of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca through their “main 3 books” of Meditations, Discourses, and Letters, respectively. This is because these books are only a handful of surviving bodies of Stoic writings left that are almost fully intact (with only 4 books out of 8 of Discourses survived).

But these 3 wise philosophers were all part of the so-called 3rd Stoa, the 3rd generation of “Late Stoa” in Rome. So what about the wisdom of the founding fathers of Stoicism, the 1st generation of “Early Stoa” in Ancient Greece? Well, it is said that there are only 1% of surviving Stoic materials left in the world, with the “main 3” dominate the canon, while everything ever written by the founder Zeno have all but disappeared. And so I thought.

This book is different than the rest of 7 modern Stoic books that I’ve read so far, because besides discussing the teachings of the usual 3rd Stoa it also provides the teachings from the 1st Stoa such as Zeno, Cleanthes, and what growingly becomes my favourite Chrysippus, as well as many other Stoic philosophers. And the stories are simply astonishing.

Firstly, I never knew that Pythagoras (the math triangle guy) had such an interesting life and philosophy (and many cult-like followers too in Ancient times) which the Stoics like to refer to. Then we have the story of Paconius Agrippinus, a highly regarded Stoic philosopher who responded with a complete composure when being informed of his impending death execution, by finishing his lunch with his friends.

But my favourite got to be the story when Macedonian king Antigonus II, a powerful political and military leader, came to visit Zeno to listen to his teachings, and Zeno was completely unconcerned when he met the powerful king. Because Antigonus had power over nothing that Zeno saw as important in life and he possessed nothing that Zeno desire about.

Furthermore, the book also has a neat “try it now” section in every chapter, which consist of the suggested Stoic lesson for us to practice for the topic. My absolute favourite is got to be contemplating life as one big festival, with us getting a ticket to attend Glastonbury or the modern Olympic games or any art event. Like the sequence of life, we attend festivals to absorb the experience, to learn a thing or two from it, to enjoy it fully but to never get too attached to anything in it because we’re only a visitor and it is only a temporary gig. When things get rough, it’s okay because it’s the nature of chaotic festival. And when it’s time to wrap up the event, you don’t get upset by it but instead you just leave the event bringing fond memories along with you.

As a reader (and dare I say, a practitioner) of Stoicism it delights me that up to this point I found the numerous modern books on Stoicism as complementary for each other rather than competing. While one focuses on the history, others adapt the lessons into modern-day contexts. While some focused more into the academic discussions, others are more targeted towards bite size day-to-day implementation. And this book is no different, it serves as another piece of Stoic puzzle by dwelling deep into the origins and the formation of the philosophies that becomes the Stoic principles.

Thus, it is a form of injustice if we compare the modern books on Stoicism against each other, as each have different purpose that serve the greater good. Instead, in the quest of reading all available books written on Stoicism I am absolutely estatic, wait, hang on, nay, I’m preferably indifferent that there is another excellent book that provides yet another new angles on the Stoic philosophy. And this one, happens to be written by the founder of the influential Stoicon. ...more

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Oct 19, 2019 Stuart Jennings rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books

A complete guide to Stoicism. Very through indeed. If I could only have one modern book on Stoicism it would be this one. I have also bought the paper back to reference back to regularly. Lots of work ahead!

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Jul 13, 2020 Malcolm O'Neill rated it really liked it

Good book on stoicism. It gives some good examples of exercises which can be done to assist in being more stoic. The meditation exercise i found to be very good.

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Jul 11, 2020 Anthony Lutz rated it really liked it

So many helpful ideas. Inspired me to start Journaling.

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Oct 19, 2017 Arthur rated it it was amazing

Complete mind opener. Good intro to reading harder books book.

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Sep 29, 2019 Gladys Lopez rated it really liked it

Actually a 4.5 stars. The beginning slow and basic... but needs for those who doesn’t know anything about stoicism. I put it away because of this for a couple of months. But as a wise said “books come to your life when you exactly need them”, I took it again and loved it. Practical advise on how to detach yourself from the small rumiations of life (that sometimes you are the creator of those with your mind) and see everything under a bigger perspective. Also, wise practices on how to “surf” the ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 Iram rated it it was amazing

This was a phenomenal book that can help the reader understand the basis of modern cognitive behavioral therapy. This book serves as an excellent introduction to stoicism and it contrasts this philosophy with primarily Cynicism and Epicureanism. Stoicism as a philosophy seems to adopt an attitude of indifferent humility to most things that are deemed to be valuable in life. It is this attitude that allows Stoics to view tragedy as a temporary moment, allowing one to face it with mental resolutio ...more

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Sep 18, 2019 Paris Hendry rated it it was amazing

This book serves as a very good introduction to the concept of Stoic philosophy. While it definitely falls into the category of self-help, it is much more than a feel-good book— as it provides strategies with coping and resilience that can help you become a stronger and better person.

Some readers may think parts are too repetitive. As a philosophy novice, however, I appreciated the bits of repetition and the simple breakdowns within the chapters.

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Mar 23, 2020 Rihab Harmessi rated it it was amazing

"Reputation after life is nothing more than oblivion."
This sentence was an answer to so many questions I have been asking myself.

Excellent book overall. It gives you good insights into the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.

Why, then, do you wonder that good men are shaken in order that they may
grow strong? No tree becomes rooted and sturdy unless many a wind assails
it. For by its very tossing it tightens its grip and plants its roots more
securely; the fragile trees are those that have grown in a s ...more

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Dec 26, 2016 Euan Semple rated it really liked it

This is an excellent grounding in the ideas of the Stoics. Lots of clear explanation of their ideas and translated into our modern situation. I have also read William Irvine's "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy", which is also worth reading, but a bit more interpretative of the original texts and less practical than this. I am currently reading a lot about Stoic philosophy, along with translations of the original writing by Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, and finding ...more

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Sep 22, 2018 Jared Abbott rated it it was amazing

This is an excellent book on the basics of Stoic philosophy, with an emphasis on Stoic practices and exercises. It could be read straight through (this is what I did), but it could easily be used a reference because the structure of the book is so strictly outlined and divided into sections according to the outline. The content was clear and concise, and a reader with little or no previous philosophical knowledge should be able to understand it. This book was really indispensable for a new Stoic ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: philosophy

After having finished “How to think like a Roman emperor”, my mother gifted me this book for Christmas.

Robertson, along with his editors, manages to craft a clear and relatively concise introduction to fundamental Stoic practices and concepts. Organized in a way that truly helps to enhance learning, this books helps to lay the foundation for anyone interested in interacting with primary Stoic literature going forward.

Thanks again Donald for another great read.

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Feb 01, 2017 MR DP STORRAR rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent

I suffer from anxiety and stumbled across stoicism. This book had a perfect balance of the stoic philosophy and practical exercises that I am starting to embed in my daily routine.

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Oct 23, 2018 Tomas rated it it was amazing

This book is super hard to read but it pays off. There are sections I skipped because I do not care that much meditations. etc. But overall message is very interesting. I think I will have to re-read it with more focus on some parts.

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Dec 17, 2019 Steve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Explains Stoicism in Great Detail

Robertson explains the nuts and bolts of Stoicism without academic jargon. Practical and easy to understand. The reader comes away with tools to apply to their daily lives

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Mar 14, 2017 Scott rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Very good explanation if Stoicism

Excellent book. I got this book as an introduction to Stoicism. It has provided a nice modern take on an ancient philosophy.

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Jun 05, 2018 Lucas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Very good book about Stoicism! I recommend it for everyone I know as an introduction to Stoicism as well as to get deeper into the subject.

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Nov 06, 2018 Bijal Choksi rated it it was amazing

What a great Book to ponder how to live.

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Jan 01, 2020 Vicki Garlick rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another truly life changing read that I would recommend to everybody.

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About Donald J. Robertson

Donald J. Robertson

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Author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. I'm a philosopher and psychotherapist with a special interest in Stoicism and CBT.

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