How To Be A Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy To Live A Modern Life Quotes
"The ball itself, though central to the game and apparently the focus of everyone’s attention, is actually indifferent—it is what one does with the ball that defines the game, how well it is played, and who wins or loses."
"A good player does not have rigid ideas about how to handle the ball, when or to whom to pass it, and so on. The best players are those who display fantasia (creativity)."
"The hallmark of an admirable player isn’t that he wins games, but that he plays his best regardless of the final outcome."
"Fate handed Socrates certain materials to play with, including the time and place of his birth, the political system and situation of Athens in the fifth century BCE."
"Socrates tells his distraught friends that he has a moral duty to accept the law even when it is patently misused, because we don’t get to change the rules when they happen not to suit us."
"‘How do I know what is going to turn up? My business is to use what does turn up with diligence and skill.’"
"Snowden released classified documents that exposed a broad, and arguably illegal, surveillance system enacted by the NSA."
"‘It is for you, then, to take what is given you and make the most of it.’"
"Even the activist-journalist Michael Pollan agrees that we cannot feed billions of people on the kind of diet that he and I can afford."
"‘If I am in error, my father, and ignorant of what is fitting and proper for me. If, then, this cannot be taught or learnt, why do you reproach me?’"
"‘What is the reason that we assent to a thing? Because it seems to us that it is so. It is impossible that we shall assent to that which seems not to be.’"
"‘You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality.’"
"‘Wisdom alone, is the good for man, ignorance the only evil.’"
"‘What we expected never came to pass, What we did not expect the gods brought to bear; So have things gone, this whole experience through!’"
"‘This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.’"
"‘Tranquillity, fearlessness, and freedom.’"
"Is human excellence something teachable? Or, if not teachable, is it something to be acquired by training? Or, does it accrue to me at birth or in some other way?"
"There are three sources of virtue: some comes from our natural endowment, some is obtained by habit, especially early in life, and some can be acquired intellectually and therefore can be taught."
"We naturally come equipped with the ability to have regard not just for ourselves but also for our caretakers and other people with whom we come into regular contact early on in life."
"Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of six stages of moral development builds on Jean Piaget’s original work and modern empirical evidence."
"Complex traits, especially behavioral ones, seem almost always to develop through a continuous feedback of genes and environments, nature intermingled with nurture."
"Observing and imitating role models is one powerful way to work on our own virtue."
"The problem nowadays is that, by and large, we do a pretty bad job of picking role models."
"A major aspect of the environment for human beings is our culture and our social interactions with other members of our species."
"Role models are not perfect human beings, for the simple reason that there is no such thing."
"What is great and transcends the common ordinary type is not often produced."
"Cato was an unusual kid... When he was given a military command in Macedon at age twenty-eight, he marched with his men, sharing their food and sleeping quarters."
"Stoicism is a practical philosophy, not abstract theorizing."
"It is by hearing about great deeds that we not only become inspired by what human beings at their best can do, but also are implicitly reminded of just how much easier most of our lives actually are."
"Philosophy is no miracle cure, and it should not be treated as one."
"We should be able to suffice for ourselves, and able to commune with ourselves."
"The Stoics took destiny more literally than many of us do today."
"We need to learn how to maintain agency under changing circumstances."
"The emphasis, for every human being, should be on what we can do, not on what we cannot do."
"Knowing our physical and psychological abilities includes knowing our limits."
"We need to develop a life plan that is coherent, ambitious, achievable, revisable, and—ideally—compatible with a generally rising level of life satisfaction."
"We need to harmonize our spiritual and rational experiences, our desires and our needs, our reason with our actions."
"We need to recognize brick walls when we hit them; even better is to see them coming before we hit them hard."
"Doing without a wheelchair is not a basic life goal."
"I am truly in awe of a decent human being who is a serious scholar, a committed Stoic, and someone who has clearly lived his philosophy under very challenging circumstances."
"We can communicate our thoughts and emotions to others, not just in person but through the power of the written word."
"We are no different from other living beings: like the wheat whose as are destined to ripen in the sun, we too are destined for 'reaping.'"
"We are so distraught about the prospect of our own death precisely because, unlike wheat and most other species on earth presumably, we are capable of contemplating that thought."
"We need to make use of reason. It is therefore entirely up to us, individually, to examine the situation and decide whether we hear the call of the cosmos—so to speak—or not."
"Philosophers are often caricatured as aloof, forever engaged in navel-gazing of no interest to the rest of us."
"We need to practice the Socratic task: know thyself."
"It is undeniably true that the father should not have left his daughter just to avoid being in pain himself."
"In all cases, however, the Stoic question would be the very same one that Epictetus posed to the distraught father: it may be natural, but is it right?"
"Friendship is a type of love, according to the Greco-Romans."
"Stoicism is no silver bullet. But any philosophy that can do these things, even under the very challenging conditions we have encountered in this chapter, certainly deserves our attention and perhaps a shot at being practiced."
"If anything, this should make us even more appreciative of the infinitesimal interval, from a cosmic perspective, during which we are alive and we eat, drink, and love."
"If we understand the ancient Greek concept of amathia, we know that it is more helpful to think of people who do bad things as mistaken and therefore to be pitied and helped if possible, not condemned as evil."
"Human affection needs to be guided—trained even—by a sound assessment of whatever situation triggers our feelings."
"True friendship, like true love, is revealed when the going gets tough, not when things are nice and easy."
"Every time a criminal helps his criminal friend with, say, getting away with escaping justice, he puts his friendship for the other ahead of moral integrity—precisely the reverse of the Stoic set of priorities."
"Our ability to communicate with and understand each other depends on semantics—that is, on our accurate use of language."
"Friendship of utility is what we nowadays would call an acquaintance based on reciprocal advantage."
"Friendship of pleasure is based on (reciprocal) pleasure. Like friendship of utility, it may end once the pertinent social glue dissolves."
"A friendship of the good is when two people enjoy each other for their own sake because they find in each other an affinity of character."
"We should take a hint from how the universe is put together in figuring out how to live our lives."
"Some things are under our control, and others are not. We should concern ourselves with what is under our control and handle everything else with equanimity."
"Every challenge in life is a perfectly good chance to work on self-improvement."
"It is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control."
"We should constantly remind ourselves of just how precious our loved ones are precisely because they may soon be gone."
"If you learn that someone is speaking ill of you, don’t try to defend yourself against the rumors; respond instead with, ‘Yes, and he doesn’t know the half of it, because he could have said more.’"
"In your conversation, don’t dwell at excessive length on your own deeds or adventures."
"Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed."
"We need to pause, take a deep breath, and consider the issue as dispassionately as possible."
"We would do better to remember how we react when a similar loss afflicts others."
"Let silence be your goal for the most part; say only what is necessary, and be brief about it."
"Avoid fraternizing with non-philosophers. If you must, though, be careful not to sink to their level."
"Admit not sleep into your tender eyelids till you have reckoned up each deed of the day—How have I erred, what done or left undone?"