Category: STOIC

People have been procrastinating for thousands of years. Just like you, they put things off, they delayed, they made excuses, they hoped deadlines would never come due. This caused them anxiety, it pissed their colleagues and families off, it created problems and most of all it wasted time. Twenty centuries ago, the Roman era Stoic… Continue reading How To Overcome Procrastination Based On Ancient Philosophy

By: Stephen Hanselman The Seeds Of Virtue For perception is the origin of all appropriation (oikeiosis) and alienation (allotriosis), and Zeno and his followers assert that oikeiosis (appropriation, or alliance) is the principle of justice. –Porphyry, On the Abstinence from Animal Food, 3.190 Porphyry, the great Neoplatonic philosopher writing toward the end of the third century… Continue reading Oikeiosis – Stoic Ethics and the Unbreakable Connection Between Self-Interest and the Interests of Others

By: Stephen Hanselman [1] If You Want a Smooth Flow of Life, Live According to Nature At the core of Stoic teaching is the founder Zeno’s idea that a smooth flow of life (euroia biou) comes from “living in agreement with nature.” It was the second leader of the Stoics, Zeno’s student Cleanthes, who added… Continue reading The 9 Core Stoic Beliefs

By: Stephen Hanselman The English language has done a great disservice to two of ancient philosophy’s greatest schools—Stoicism and Epicureanism. In the case of Stoicism, its popular meaning today suggests little more than a stiff-upper-lip, hyper-rational, emotionless automaton, not unlike the Star Trek character Mr. Spock. Similarly, Epicureanism’s popular meaning evokes a kind of sordid… Continue reading Stoicism Vs. Epicureanism

For I believe a good king is from the outset and by necessity a philosopher, and the philosopher is from the outset a kingly person.” — Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 8.33.32–34 Stoic ethics were grounded in rejecting the valuing of external things and focusing instead on valuing our reason and choices in the pursuit of virtue (arete,… Continue reading 9 Common Traits In The Lives Of Stoic Leaders

Introduction Junius Rusticus was a 2nd-century Stoic philosopher. The grandson of a member of The Stoic Opposition, Rusticus must have heard story after story of those revered philosophers. And he must have been enchanted because the sense of duty that compelled his grandfather summoned Rusticus as well. He became a soldier then a general then a consul… Continue reading Who Is Junius Rusticus? An Introduction To The Philosopher King’s Teacher

On this page, you will find: Book Review: Lives Of The Stoics Meet The Authors: Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman 5 Takeaway Lessons From Lives of the Stoics 10 Best Quotes From Lives of the Stoics What Is Stoicism? How Did Stoicism Begin? Who Were The Stoic Philosophers? I. Book Review: Lives Of The Stoics… Continue reading Book Review, Key Lessons, Best Quotes, and More

Introduction Helvidius Priscus was a 1st-century Stoic philosopher. He was born to a low Plebeian class family but rose to become a powerful figure in the Roman Empire. From an early age, Helvidius seemed to sense how he might transcend his humble origins. A few decades after Helvidius died, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote that… Continue reading Who Is Helvidius Priscus? An Introduction To The Outspoken Senator

Introduction Thrasea Paetus was born in 14 AD, the same year the first Roman Emperor Augustus died. It was now six decades since Cato The Younger bled out alongside The Roman Republic. In Thrasea’s Rome then, for most, the old Republic ideals—freedom, mainly—were ancient history. They accepted what Rome had become—a regime of increasingly autocratic… Continue reading Who Is Thrasea Paetus? An Introduction To Nero’s Fearless Opponent

INTRODUCTION Born around 20 AD in Libya, Lucius Annaeus Cornutus was a Phoenician like the Stoic founder Zeno. He was at some point brought to Rome, most likely by Seneca’s brother Mela. Perhaps it was seeing what an impact Seneca’s childhood tutor—the Stoic Attalus—had on his brother that Mela hired Cornutus to tutor his own… Continue reading Who Is Lucius Annaeus Cornutus? An Introduction To The Good Tutor And Great Friend