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January 9 - February 9, 2023
If your fundamental worldview, by contrast, assumes that your status in the eyes of others is of negligible importance, then it follows that you should be beyond the reach of social anxiety.
“cognitive theory of emotion,” which holds that our emotions are mainly determined by our beliefs.
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be; just be one.4
From the moment we’re born we’re constantly dying, not only with each stage of life but also one day at a time. Our bodies are no longer the ones to which our mothers gave birth, as Marcus put it. Nobody is the same person he was yesterday. Realizing this makes it easier to let go: we can no more hold on to life than grasp the waters of a rushing stream.
Living in agreement with Nature, in part, means fulfilling our natural potential for wisdom; that’s what it means for us to flourish as human beings.
The true goal of life for Stoics isn’t to acquire as many external advantages as possible but to use whatever befalls us wisely, whether it be sickness or health, wealth or poverty, friends or enemies. The Stoic Sage, or wise man, needs nothing but uses everything well; the fool believes himself to “need” countless things, but he uses them all badly.
Reason, our greatest blessing, is also our greatest curse.
What matters, in other words, isn’t what we feel but how we respond to those feelings.
“It’s not things that upset us but our judgments about things,”
Noticing how our thoughts and beliefs tinge our perception of the world is a prerequisite for changing them in cognitive therapy.
The Stoics realized that to communicate wisely, we must phrase things appropriately.
Most men are eager to point out their neighbors’ flaws, he said, whether we ask them to or not. So instead of resenting it, we should welcome criticism from others as one of life’s inevitabilities and turn it to our advantage by making
all men into our teachers.
we should never crave anything in life that requires walls or curtains.
What would the consequences be if you acted as a slave to your passions? 2. How would your day differ if you acted more rationally, exhibiting wisdom and self-discipline?
What did you do badly?
What did you do well?
What could you do differently?
What’s ultimately the most important thing in life to you?
What do you really want your life to stand for or represent?
What do you want to be remembered for aft...
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What sort of person do you most want ...
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What sort of character do you want to have? • What would you want writ...
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“What’s the most important thing in life?”
“What is the true nature of the good?”
