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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Ryan Holiday
Started reading
January 10, 2021
The philosophy asserts that virtue (meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble. Stoicism teaches that we can’t control or rely on anything outside what Epictetus called our “reasoned choice”—our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events.
The Discipline of Perception (how we see and perceive the world around us) The Discipline of Action (the decisions and actions we take—and to what end) The Discipline of Will (how we deal with the things we cannot change, attain clear and convincing judgment, and come to a true understanding of our place in the world)
The Stoics were pioneers of the morning and nightly rituals: preparation in the morning, reflection in the evening.
Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control.
Have you taken the time to get clarity about who you are and what you stand for? Or are you too busy chasing unimportant things, mimicking the wrong influences, and following disappointing or unfulfilling or nonexistent paths?
What then can pollute and clog the mind’s proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions.”
“We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good.
The little compulsions and drives we have not only chip away at our freedom and sovereignty, they cloud our clarity. We think we’re in control—but are we really?
must reclaim the ability to abstain because within it is your clarity and self-control.
Epictetus is reminding you that serenity and stability are results of your choices and judgment, not your environment.
you seek to avoid all disruptions to tranquility—other people, external events, stress—you will never be successful. Your problems will follow you wherever you run and hide. But if you seek to avoid the harmful and disruptive judgments that cause those problems, then you will be stable and steady wherever you happen to be.
As you lie in bed, remember that sleep is a form of surrender and trust and how easily it comes. And prepare to start the whole cycle over again tomorrow.
CIRCLE OF CONTROL “We control our reasoned choice and all acts that depend on that moral will. What’s not under our control are the body
a wise person knows what’s inside their circle of control and what is outside of it.
“Man is pushed by drives but pulled by values.”
In Seneca’s essay on tranquility, he uses the Greek word euthymia, which he defines as “believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction.” It is this state of mind, he says, that produces tranquility.
Instead, tranquility and peace are found in identifying our path and in sticking to it: staying the course—making adjustments here and there, naturally—but ignoring the distracting sirens who beckon us to turn toward the rocks.
We must only begin. Believe me and you will see.”
“It doesn’t matter. I wasn’t even trying.”
just begin the work. The rest follows.
It’s possible to start living again! See things anew as you once did—that is how to restart life!”
What happened yesterday—what happened five minutes ago—is the past. We can reignite and restart whenever we like. Why not do it right now?
“Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must seize what flees.”
When someone asks you what you did yesterday, do you really want the answer to be “nothing”?
