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“If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.”
Marcus Aurelius
philosophy is really a matter of practice, learning how to sculpt our lives.
ancient times, the ideal philosopher was a veritable warrior of the mind,
but in modern times, “the philosopher has become something more bookish, not a warrior, but a mere librarian of the mind.”
True philosophy is a matter of little theory and a lot of practice,
This practical “art of living” dimension of Stoicism holds two main promises:
First, it teaches how to live a happy and smoothly flowing life,
second, it teaches you how to stay emotionally resilient to retain that happy and smoothly flowing life ...
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“Dig within. Within is the wellspring of Good; and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.” – Marcus Aurelius
philosophy, the ultimate goal of life was eudaimonia, to become good (eu) with your inner daimon.
Stoicism deals with your moment-to-moment actions and with living as close as possible to your ideal self.
The Stoics’ overarching goal was eudaimonia;
To flourish
Eudaimonia refers more to the overall quality of someone’s life rather than a temporary mood such as happiness.
Philosophy trains us to be able to take on every obstacle in life with the right mindset so that life keeps on going smoothly.
This is the second principle of stoicism.
“To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden.” – Seneca
Stoics, we need to keep our emotions in check, we need to tame them so they won’t get in the way of the good life.
(Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage is a fantastic start.)
Look this up
We can train ourselves to act calmly despite feeling angry, act courageously despite feeling anxious, and going east despite the wolf pulling west.
The Stoics want us to tame and learn to understand that wolf. Instead of letting it dictate our actions when it’s angry,
we act calmly despite the anger.
“Okay, the wolf wants to freak out, but what would it help?”
We will always feel the emerging emotional wolf, but we can train ourselves to recognize our tendency toward following along,
and then deliberately choose whether to follow along or not.
Practice Stoicism and Become more Tranquil as a By-Product
They weren’t unemotional, they just recognized that strong emotions were their weakness and stood in their way to live as they’re
Stoics dis overed this
if you’re enslaved to your emotional wolf, then you panic and follow your action tendencies
They didn’t seek tranquility, they sought eudaimonia, and tranquility came as an added (and welcomed) bonus.
Stoics
Stoics followed the example of their hero Socrates and met outside in the public, on this porch, where anyone could listen.
philosophy of the street.”
Stoicism
“If you must live in a palace, then you can also live well in a palace.”
Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism Allows for comfort.
“If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” – Seneca
“Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” – Epictetus
Live with Areté: Express your highest self in every moment.
Focus on What You Control: This is the most prominent principle in Stoicism.
every external event you don’t control offers an area you can control, namely how you choose to respond to this event.
The first corner of the Stoic Happiness Triangle is Live with Areté.
The classic translation for this Greek word is “virtue” or “excellence.”
Continued From previous
Virtue is what helps you close the gap between what you’re actually doing and what you’re capable of.
The bigger that gap, the further away you are from eudaimonia,
How to determine what would give you happiness is the difficult part
areté
Live in agreement with nature
We negate our very humanity and fall to the state of a sheep when we let our actions become impulsive and inconsiderate.
“When our actions are combative, mischievous, angry, and rude, do we not fall away and become wild beasts?"
For the Stoics, then, it’s reasonable to always try to be the best you can be.
We all have this seed of reason,
People who don't have a seed of reason are scary people
Our own mind: As human beings with the ability of reasonable thinking, we should consider our actions rationally and wisely, and at all times try to be the best we can be.
we should try to live harmoniously with others and contribute to the wellbeing of mankind.
we should try to live harmoniously with nature, calmly accept events that happen to us, and try to respond wisely.
They divided virtue into the four cardinal virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and self-discipline.
The four cardinal virtues
The opposite immoral and wicked character traits are known as the four cardinal vices.
Wisdom is about understanding how to act and feel appropriately. Wisdom includes excellent deliberation, healthy judgment, perspective, and good sense. It opposes the vice of folly or thoughtlessness.
