<ul><li>Today there will be endless interruptions: calls, mails, visitors. A philosopher knows that their default state should be one of reflection and inner awareness. That's why they protect their personal space and thoughts from the intrusions of the world. </li><li>Senaca reminds us that while we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries. Property can be regained - some of it still untouched by man. But time? Time is our most irreplaceable asset - we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible. </li></ul>

Spendthrifts Of Time - Day 125

"Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe. For in a sense, all things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other - for one thing follows after another according to their tension of movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Over and over again, the stoics reminded themselves of the interconnectedness in life. Today, take a moment to remember that we are woven together and that each of us plays a role (good, bad and or ugly) in this world. </li></ul>

A Mantra Of Mutual Independence - Day 58

<ul><li>Stories about lottery winners tend to share one lesson: suddenly coming into a great deal of money is a curse, not a blessing. In just a few years, many lottery winners are actually in worse financial shape. They've lost friends, got divorced, and their lives have turned into a nightmare as a result of their good fortune. </li><li>And yet the most common response from a cancer survivor, the person who went through the thing we all dread and fear? "It was the best thing that ever happened to me."</li><li>Funny how that works out, isn't it? </li></ul>

Funny How That Works Out - Day 111

<ul><li>I'll be happy when I graduate when I get this promotion when I do this or that. Psychologists call this conditional happiness. Like the horizon, you can walk for miles but you'll never reach it.</li><li>Eagerly anticipating some future event, passionately imagining something you desire, looking forward to some happy scenario - as pleasurable as these activities might seem, they ruin your chance at happiness here and now. Locate the yearning for more, better, someday and see it for what it is: the enemy of your contentment. Choose it or your happiness, because these two are not compatible.</li></ul>

The Enemy Of Happiness - Day 195

<ul><li>When walking towards the New York City Public Library, you'll pass the "Library Way" which holds the names of so many important people.</li><li>How many of these people have we even heard of? The people involved in the story of the library were the most famous men of that time, rich beyond imagination in some cases. </li><li>Even along "Library Way", many of the famous authors are unfamiliar to the modern reader. They are all long gone, as are the people who remembered them. </li><li>All of us, including Marcus - who is passed over by just as many unaware pedistrians - last for just a day, at most. </li></ul>

On Being Remembered - Day 144

When the problem arose for us whether habit or theory was better for getting virtue - Musonius thought habit to be more effective. <ul><li>There is no time to chop logic over whether our theories are correct. We are dealing with the real world here. What matters is how you're going to deal with this situation right in front of you and whether you're going to able to move past it. </li><li>Although theories are clean and simple, situations rarely are! </li></ul>

No Time For Theories, just Results - Day 5

<ul><li>Self-deception and ego are the sworn enemy of our ability to learn and grow. We will be unable to improve, to learn, to earn the respect of others if we think we're already perfect, a genius admired far and wide.</li><li>In this sense, ego and self-deception are the enemies of the things we wish to have because we delude ourselves into believing that we already possess them.</li><li>So we must meet ego with the hostility and contempt that it insidiously deploys against us - to keep it away, if only for twenty-four hours at a time.</li></ul>

Self Deception Is Our Enemy - Day 219

"Just as we commonly hear people say the doctor prescribed some particular exercises, or ice baths, we should in the same way say that nature prescribed someone to be diseased, or disabled, or suffer any impairment. Incase of the doctor, something is ordered to help aid someone's healing. But in the case of nature, what happens to each of us is ordered to help aid our destiny" - Marcus<ul><li>When external events set in, we fight like hell if anything happens contrary to our plans. What if this was as good for us, as a medicine the doctor would've prescribed as part of our treatment? </li><li>Well, what if? </li></ul>

Following The Doctor's Orders - Day 89

<ul><li>At any moment, we may be toppled from our perch and made to do with less - less money, less recognition, less access, less resources. Even the "less-es" that come with age: less mobility, less energy, less freedom. But we can prepare for that, in some way by familiarizing ourselves with what that might feel like. </li><li>One way to protect yourself from the swings of fate - and from the emotional vertigo that can result - is by living within your means now. So today, we can try to get used to having and surviving on less so that if we are ever forced to have less, it would not be so bad. </li></ul>

What Would Less Look Like? - Day 36

<ul><li>Political winds could change in an instant, depriving you of the most basic freedoms you take for granted. Or, no matter who you are or how safely you've lived your life, there's someone out there who would rob and kill you for a couple of dollars. </li><li>Death is not the only unexpected interruption we might face - our plans can be dashed to pieces by a million things. Today might be a bit more pleasant if you ignore those possibilities, but at what cost? </li></ul>

The Benefits Of Sobering Thoughts - Day 121

<ul><li>Epictetus shows us the themes of tolerance and acceptance. Cleanthes and Euripides evoke destiny and fate as concepts that help ease acceptance. When one has a belief in a greater power, then there is no such thing as an event going contrary to plan. </li><li>What happens to us can seem random or upsetting, when in fact these events make perfect sense when our perspective is zoomed out, even just slightly. </li><li>Let's practice this today. Pretend that each event - whether desired or unexpected - was willed to happen, willed specifically for you. You wouldn't fight that much would you? </li></ul>

Maxims From Three Wise Men - Day 105

<ul><li>Seneca was a Stoic. He had many material things, yet, as the Stoics say, he was also indifferent to them. He enjoyed them while they were there, but he accepted that they might someday disappear. What better attitude than desperately craving more or fearfully dreading losing even one penny. Indifference is a solid middle ground.</li><li>It's not about avoidance or shunning, but rather not giving any possible outcome more power or preference than is appropriate. This is not easy to do, certainly, but if you could manage, how much more relaxed would you be?</li></ul>

Cultivating Indifference Where Others Grow Passion - Day 204

Whatever our case is today, let's align our minds along these four critical habits:<ol><li>Accept only what is true. </li><li>Work for the common good. </li><li>Match our needs and wants with what is in our control. </li><li>Embrace what nature has in store for us. </li></ol>

Four Habits Of The Stoic Mind - Day 104

"You know what wine and liqueur tastes like. It makes no difference whether a hundred or a thousand bottles pass through your bladder." Senca <ul><li>As fun and exciting pleasures are, it's worth putting them in their place. You don't get a prize at the end of your life for having consumed more, worked more, spent more, collected more, or learned more about the various vintages than everyone else. You are just a conduit,a vessel that temporarily held or interacted with these fancy items. </li><li>If you find yourself lusting over them, this might help reduce their luster just a smidge. </li></ul>

Meaningless... Like A Fine Wine - Day 140

"We are like pellets of incense falling on the altar. Some collapse sooner, others later, but it makes no difference."-Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Measuring ourselves against others makes acceptance difficult, because we want what they have, not what we happen to have. But that makes no difference. </li><li>Some might see this line from Marcus as pessimistic, whereas others see it as optimistic. It's really just truth. We're all here and we're all going to leave this earth eventually, so let's not concern ourselves with petty differences in the meantime. We have too much to do. </li></ul>

The Altar Of No Difference - Day 112

<ul><li>This can be swiftly taught in very few words: virtue is the only good; there is no certain good without virtue; and virtue resides in our nobler part. </li><li>And what this virtue can be? True and steadfast judgement. For from this will arise every mental impulse, and by it every appearance that spurs our impulses will be rendered clear. </li><li>You become the sum of your actions, and as you do, what flows from that - your impulses - reflect the actions you've taken. Choose wisely! </li></ul>

The Supreme Court Of Your Mind - Day 9

<ul><li>People tend to get ahead of themselves, thinking they've got it all figured out and are better than those that don't. It becomes so unpleasant when someone has to drop some knowledge on them. </li><li>But this is entirely avoidable. If the bubble is never inflated, it won't need to be popped. Overconfidence is a great weakness. But if you are already humble, no one will need to humble you - and the world is much less likely to have nasty surprises in store for you. If you stay down to earth, no one will need to bring you - often times crushingly so - back down. </li></ul>

Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down - Day 37

"Hecato says, 'I can teach you a love potion made without any drugs, herbs or special spell - if you would be loved, love." - Seneca<ul><li>Love. Love. Love. Why? Because, as the Beatles put it, "In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Not just in politics, not just in tolerance, but in our personal lives. </li><li>There is almost no situation in which hatred helps. Yet almost every situation is made better by love - or empathy, understanding, appreciation - even situations in which you are in opposition to someone. </li><li>And who knows, you might just get some of that love back. </li></ul>

Always Love - Day 67

<ul><li>The mind is a muscle, and like the rest, it can be strained, overworked, even injured. Our physical health is also worn down by overcommitment, a lack of rest, and bad habits. Remember John Henry - the man who challenged the machine? He died of exhaustion at the end. Don't forget that. </li><li>Today, you may face things that try your patience, require considerable focus or clarity, or demand creative breakthroughs. Life is a long haul - it will mean many such moments. Are you going to be able to handle them if you've burned the candle at both ends? If you've been abusing and overworking your body? </li></ul>

Don't Burn The Candle At Both Ends - Day 141

"If someone is slipping up, kindly correct them and point out what they missed. But if you can't, blame yourself-or no one." - Marcus<ul><li>To be able to see that if a friend is unreliable, maybe it's because they don't know what's wrong or because we haven't tried to help them fix their flaw. If an employee is underperforming, just talk to them to figure out if they lack any support. If someone is being annoying, try talking to them about the problem with their behavior, or ask yourself: Why am I being so sensitive?</li><li>And if this doesn't work, try letting it go. It might be an isolated incident anyway.</li></ul>

It's Not On Them, It's On You - Day 114

<ul><li>In all circumstances - adversity or advantage - we really have just one thing we need to do: focus on what is in our control as opposed to what is not. Right now we may be facing struggles but in just a few days we might do well that success is actually a burden.</li><li>Ultimately, this is clarity. Whoever we are, wherever we are - what matters is our choice. What are they? How will we evaluate them? How will we make the most of them? Those are the questions life asks us, regardless of our station. How will you answer?</li></ul>

Wherever You Go There Your Choice Is - Day 166

<ul><li>Seneca has said, "Without a ruler to do it against, you can't make crooked straight." That is the role of wise people in our lives - to serve as models and inspiration. To bounce our ideas off and test our presumptions.</li><li>Who that person will be for you is up to you. Perhaps it's your father or your mother. Maybe it's a philosopher or a writer or a thinker. Perhaps WWJD (What would Jesus do?) is the right model for you.</li><li>But pick someone, watch what they do (and what they don't do), and do your best to do the same.</li></ul>

Watching The Wise - Day 175

<ul><li>Have you had a bad couple of weeks? Have you been drifting away from the principles and beliefs that you hold dear? It's perfectly fine. It happens to all of us.</li><li>But the reminder here is that no matter what happens, no matter how disappointing our behavior has been in the past, the principles themselves remain inchangés. We can return and embrace them at any moment. What happened yesterday - what happened five minutes ago - is the past. We can reignite and restart whenever we like.</li><li>Why not do it right now?</li></ul>

Reignite Your Thoughts - Day 167

<ul><li>At a Roman triumph, everyone would keep praising the victorious general. Only a few would notice the aide whispering into his ear, "Remember, thou art mortal." What a reminder at the peak of glory. </li><li>In our lives we can train to be that whisper. When there is something or someone we love, whisper that it is fragile and mortal. No matter how strong something feels, it never is. We must remind ourselves that it can break, die and leave us. </li><li>Loss is one of our deepest fears. Ignorance and pretending don't make things any better. They just mean the loss will be all the more jarring when it occurs. </li></ul>

Train To Let Go Of What's Not Yours - Day 110

<ul><li>We resent the person who comes in and tries to boss us around. This is because we are independent, self-sufficient people. Or at least that's what we tell ourselves.</li><li>Yet if someone says something we disagree with, something inside us tells us we have to argue with them.</li><li>We would never let another person jerk us around the way we let our impulses do. It's time we start seeing it that way - that we're not puppets that can be made to dance this way or that way just because we feel like it. We should be the ones in control, not our emotions because we are independent, self-sufficient people.</li></ul>

A Proper Frame Of Mind - Day 180

<ul><li>Remember that it's not only the desire for wealth and position that debates and subjugates us, but also the desire for peace, leisure, travel, and learning. It doesn't matter what the external thing is, the value we place on it subjugates us to another... where our heart is set, there our impediment lies.</li><li>Because fate can always intervene and then we'll likely lose our self-control in response.</li><li>When it comes to your goals and the things you strive for, ask yourself: Am I in control of them, or are they in control of me?</li></ul>

Wish Not, Want Not - Day 199

"An old man has no other evidence besides age to prove that he has lived a long life" - Seneca<ul><li>One day, our hours will begin to run out. It would be nice to be able to say: "Hey I really made the most of it." Not in the form of achievements, not money, not status - you know what the Stoics think of all that - but in wisdom, insight, and real progress in the things that all humans struggle against. </li><li>What if you could say that you really made something of this time that you had? What if you could prove that you really did live [insert number] years? And not just lived them, but lived them fully? </li></ul>

What Do You Have To Show For Your Years - Day 137

<ul><li>Most people resist the idea of a true self estimate probably because they fear it might mean downgrading some of their beliefs about who they are and what they're capable of. Don't fear self-assessment. It's equally damaging to value yourself at less than your true worth.</li><li>We underestimate our capabilities just as much and just as dangerous as we overestimate other abilities. Cultivate the ability to judge yourself accurately and honestly. Look inward to discern what you're capable of and what it will take to unlock that potential.</li></ul>

Accurate Self-Assessment - Day 207

<ul><li>Clarity of vision allows us to have belief. That's not to say we're always going to be 100 percent certain of everything. Rather, we're heading generally in the right direction - that we don't need to constantly compare ourselves with other people or change our minds every three seconds based on new information.</li><li>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.</li></ul>

Place Is In Staying The Course - Day 162

No one does wrong on purpose.<ul><li>The clearest proof of that hypothesis? All the time we did wrong without malice or intention. Remember them? The rude behaviour because we haven't spelt in two days. The time you acted on bad information, got carried away, forgot, didn't understand. The list goes on and on. </li><li>This is why it is important not to brand off people as enemies. Be as forgiving of them as you are of yourself. It may work wonders in your relationships. </li></ul>

Consider Your Failings Too - Day 25

<ul><li>There is only one thing that causes unhappiness. It's attachment. Attachments to a specific person, place, time, job or a lifestyle.</li><li>Attachments are what make it so hard to accept change. Once we have them, we don't want to let go. We become slaves to maintaining the status quo. </li><li>But everything is in a constant state of change. We have certain things for a while and then lose them. The only permanent thing is our reasoned choice. They are resilient and adaptable. The sooner we become aware of this the better. The easier it will be to accept and adapt to what does happen. </li></ul>

Attachments Are The Enemy - Day 109

<ul><li>Watching other people succeed is one of the toughest things to do - especially if we are not doing well ourselves. In our hunter-gatherer minds, we suspect that life is a zero-sum game - that for someone to have more, means that we might end up less. </li><li>But like all parts of philosophy, empathy and selflessness are a matter of practice. The stoics teach themselves to actively cheer for other people - even in cases where that might come at their own expense - and to put aside jealousy and possessivess. You can do that too. </li></ul>

Looking Out For Each Other - Day 61

"If the breaking day sees someone proud, the ending day sees them brought low. No one should put too much trust in triumph, No one should give up hope of trails improving. God mixes one with the other and stops fortune from resting, spinning every fate around. No one has has so much divine favor that they could guarantee themselves tomorrow. God keeps our lives hurtling on, spinning in a whirlwind"-Seneca<ul><li>No amount of prosperity, no amount of difficulty, is certain or forever. A triumph becomes a trial, a trail becomes a triumph. Life can change in an instant. Remember, how often it does today.</li></ul>

Someone Else Is Spinning The Thread - Day 92

<ul><li>One of the hardest things in life is to say "No." To invitations, entertainment and obligations. Even harder is saying no to certain time-consuming emotions: anger, excitement, obsession, lust. These don't feel like a big deal, but they become commitment like anything else. </li><li>Saying no may hurt some feelings. It may turn people off. It may take some hard work. But the more you say no to the things that don't matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do. This will let you live and enjoy your life - the life that you want. </li></ul>

Be Ruthless To The Things That Don't Matter - Day 150

Robert Caro has written that "power doesn't corrupt, it reveals." In some ways, prosperity - financial and personal - is the same way. <ul><li>If your mind has developed a certain cast - the habit of panicking, then it won't matter how good things get for you. You're still primed for panic. Your mind will still finds things to worry about, and you'll still be miserable. </li><li>That's why it's foolish to hope for a good fortune. If you were to hope for one thing, you could hope for the strength of character that's able to thrive in good fortune. Or better, work for that kind of character and confidence. </li></ul>

What Will Prosperity Reveal - Day 52

"Don't lament this and don't get agitated." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>There's that feeling we get when something happens. It's all over now. All is lost. What follows are complaints and pity and misery - the impotent struggle against something that's already occurred. Why bother? We have no idea what the future holds. We have no idea what's coming up around the bend. It could be more problems, or this could be the darkness before the dawn. </li><li>If we're Stoic, there is one thing we can be sure of: whatever happens, we're going to be OK. </li></ul>

You Are Going To be OK - Day 115

<ul><li>The Stoics seek steadiness, stability, and tranquility - traits most of us aspire to but seem to experience only fleetingly.</li><li>These can be achieved by filtering the outside world through the straightener of our judgment. That's what our reason can do - it can take the crooked, confusing, and overwhelming nature of external events and make them orderly.</li><li>If our judgments are crooked because we don't use reason, then everything that follows will be crooked and we will lose our ability to steady ourselves in the chaos and rush of life. Proper judgment is the best way to steadiness.</li></ul>

If You Want To Be Steady - Day 157

<ul><li>The leader convinced that he might be betrayed acts first and betrays others first. Afraid that he's not well-liked he works hard that it has the opposite effect. Convinced of mismanagement, he micromanages and becomes the Source of mismanagement. The things we dread or fear, we blindly inflict on ourselves.</li><li>The next time you're afraid of some outcome, remember that if you don't control your impulses if you lose your self-control, you may be the very source of the disaster you so fear. It has happened to smarter and more powerful and more successful people. It can happen to us too</li></ul>

Fear Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Day 185

<ul><li>The mind freed from passions is an impenetrable fortress - a person has no more secure place of refuge for all time. When we repeat an action so often it becomes unconscious behaviour, we can default to it without thinking. </li><li>Proper training can change your default habits. Train yourself not to get angry, and you won't be angry for minor reasons often. Train yourself on any habit, and you'll be able to unconsciously go to that habit in trying times. </li><li>Think about which behavior you'd like to be able to default to if you could. How many of them have you practised only once? Let today be twice. </li></ul>

The Most Secure Fortress - Day 48

Don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report.<ul><li>It's been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report - the report wasn't that you've been harmed. I see that my son is sick - but not that his life is at risk.</li><li>So always stay within your first impressions, and don't add to them in your head - this way nothing can happen to you.</li><li>As Nietzsche put it, "to stop courageously at the surface" and see things in plain objective form.</li></ul>

Stick with just the facts - Day 3

<ul><li>It can be beneficial to reflect on what you used to accept as normal! Consider your first paycheck - how big it seemed then. Today, as you've become more successful, these conditions would hardly feel sufficient. In fact, you want even more than what you have now. Yet a few years ago those small you had, they felt great. </li><li>Remember today that you'd be okay if things suddenly went wrong. Your actual needs are small. There is very little that could happen that can truly threaten your survival. Think about that - and adjust your worries and fears accordingly. </li></ul>

Your Actual Needs Are Small - Day 54

<ul><li>Rubin Carter, the boxér was wrongly convicted of homicide and spent nearly 20 years in prison. He would say, "I don't acknowledge the existence of the prison. It doesn't exist for me." Of course the prison existed, and he was inside it. But he refused to let his mind be contained by it. </li><li>That's the power that you have too, in the midst of any and every kind of adversity, it is there. No matter what's happening to your body, no matter what the outside world inflicts on you, your mind can remain philosophical. It's still yours. It's untouchable - and in a way, then, so are you. </li></ul>

You Can't Touch Me - Day 55

<ul><li>When you set your mind to a task, do you always follow through? It's good if you do. But don't let yourself become a prisoner of that kind of determination. </li><li>Conditions change. New facts come in. Circumstances arise. If you can't adapt to them - if you simply proceed forward without adjusting to this new information - you are no better than a robot. The point is not to have an iron will, but an adaptable will. </li><li>It's not weak to change and adapt. Flexibility is it's own kind of strength. In fact, this flexibility combined with strength is what will make us resilient and unstoppable. </li></ul>

Flexibility Of The Will - Day 44

"Let each thing you do, say or intend be like that if a dying person." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Here's the thing: you already have a terminal diagnosis. We all do. As the writer Edmund Wilson put it, "Death is one prophecy that never fails." Every person is born with a death sentence. Each second that passes by is one you'll never get back. </li><li>Once you realize this, it will have a profound impact on what you do, say, and think. Don't let another day tick away in ignorance of the reality that you're a dying person. We all are. Can today be the day we stop pretending otherwise? </li></ul>

Don't Mind Me, I'm Dying Slow - Day 118

<ul><li>It's easy to act - to just dive in. It's harder to stop, to pause, to think.</li><li>As Cato entered politics, many expected swift and great things from him. He was aware of this pressure - a pressure that exists on all of us at all times - and resisted.</li><li>Instead, he waited and prepared. He parsed his own thoughts, made sure he was not reacting emotionally, selfishly, ignorantly, or prematurely. Only then he would speak - when he was confident that his words were worthy of being heard.</li><li>To do this requires awareness. It requires us to stop and evaluate ourselves honestly. Can you do that?</li></ul>

What's Better Left Unsaid - Day 199

<ul><li>What's the meaning of life? Most of us struggle with this question. Rarely do we find much in the way of direction. But that's because we miss the point. As Viktor Frankl points out, it is not our question to ask. Instead, it is we who are being asked the question. It's our lives that are the answer. </li><li>No amount of travel or reading or clever sages can tell you what you want to know. Instead, it is you who must find the answer in your actions, in living the good life - by embodying the self-evident principles of justice, self-control, courage, freedom, and abstaining from evil. </li></ul>

Marks Of The Good Life - Day 75

"Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Today, we could hope that goodness comes our way - good news, good weather, good luck. Or we could find it ourselves, in ourselves. Goodness isn't something that's going to be delivered by mail. You have to dig it up inside your own soul. You find it within your own thoughts, and you make it with your own actions. </li></ul>

The Fountain Of Goodness - Day 79

<ul><li>A powerful perspective lies in ordinary or seemingly unbeautiful events. It takes an artist's eye to see that the end of life is not unlike a ripe fruit falling from its tree.</li><li>It takes a poet to notice the way "baking bread splits in places and those cracks, while not intended in the baker's art, catches our eye and serves to stir our appetite" and find a metaphor in them.</li><li>There is clarity (and joy) in seeing what others can't see, in finding grace and harmony in places others overlook. Isn't that far better than seeing the world as some dark place?</li></ul>

See The World Like A Poet And An Artist - Day 165

<ul><li>In undergoing the twelve step program, many addicts struggle most with step 2: acknowledging a higher power. Addicts often fight this one. At first they claim its because they're atheists or because they don't like religion. But later they realise that this is just the addiction talking. </li><li>You don't have to believe there is a god directing the universe, you just need to stop believing that you're the director. As soon as you can attune your spirit to that idea, the easier and happier your life will be, because you will have given up the most potent addiction of all: control </li></ul>

A Higher Power - Day 91

<ul><li>Philosophy is not some pursuit only for academics or the rich. It is for everyone to help us solve problems of life, not only theoretically but practically. </li><li>You're not reading these quotes for fun. Though they may be enjoyable, their aim is to help you sculpt and improve your life. And because we have but one life and one death, we should treat each experience like a sculptor with his chisels, carving until we set free the angel in the marble. </li><li>We are trying to do this difficulty thing - living and dying. And to do that, we must remember what we've learned and the wise words we've been given. </li></ul>

The Philosopher As An Artisan Of Life And Death - Day 119

<ul><li>The stoics saw sports as both a fun pastime as well as a training ground to practice for the challenges one will inevitably face in the course of living. </li><li>Everyone has found themselves outmatched by an opponent, frustrated by some skill that we don't - height, speed, vision, whatever. How we choose to respond says a lot about who we are.</li><li>Do we see it as a chance to learn and get stronger? Do we get frustrated and complain? Or worse, do we call it off and find an easier game to play, one that makes us feel good instead of challenged? </li></ul>

No Pain, No Gain - Day 47

"Leave the past behind, let the grand design take care of the future, and instead only rightly guide the present to révérence and justice. Révérence so that you'll love what you've been allotted, for nature brought you both to each other. Justice so that you'll speak the truth freely and without evasion, and so that you'll act only as the law and value of things require." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Two words for life: persist and resist. But what principles should determine what we persist in and what we ought to resist? Marcus supplies that answer: reverence and justice. In other words, virtue. </li></ul>

Révérence And Justice - Day 65

<ul><li>A good person is invincible, for they don't rush into contests in which they aren't the strongest. You will never compel what they set out for, nor trap them in what they would avoid. How can such a person not be invincible? </li><li>Don't try to beat the opponent where they are strongest. That's what we try to do when we are put on the spot. Or we say yes to everything that comes our way. </li><li>Discretion is the better part of valour. Think hard before choosing, and make yourself unbeatable. </li></ul>

Only Fools Rush In! - Day 12

<ul><li>Roosevelt was a truly great man. But he was driven by compulsion, a work and activity addiction that was seeming without end. Many of us share this affliction - being driven by something we can't control. We're afraid of being still, so we seek out strife and action as a distraction. We choose war - when peace is a far more honorable and fitting choice.</li><li>Yes, the man in the arena is admirable. As is the soldier and the politician and the businesswoman and all the other occupations. But, and this is a big but, only if we're in the arena for the right reasons.</li></ul>

Don't Seek Out Strife - Day 184

<ul><li>Seneca is making a point that goes unheard in a society or ever bigger houses and ever more possessions: that there's a hidden cost to all that accumulating. And the sooner we're aware of it, the better.</li><li>Remember: even what we get for free has a cost, if only in what we pay to store it - in our garages and in our minds. As you walk past your possessions today, ask yourself: Do I need this? Is it superfluous? What's this actually worth? What is it costing me?</li><li>You might be surprised by the answers and how much we've been paying without even knowing it.</li></ul>

Cutting Back On The Costly - Day 210

<ul><li>We could look at the upcoming day and despair at all the things we don't control: other people, our health, the outcome of a project once it leaves our hands. </li><li>Or we could look out at that very same day and rejoice at the one thing we do control: the ability to decide what any event means. </li><li>The second option offers the ultimate power-a true and fair form of control. While you don't control external events, you retain the ability to decide how you respond to those events. </li><li>This includes the difficult one in front of you now. You'll find, if you approach it right, that this trump card is plenty. </li></ul>

You Hold The Trump Card - Day 53

<ul><li>Most teenagers put in half-hearted, lazy efforts which give them a ready-made excuse: "It doesn't matter. I wasn't even trying."</li><li>As we grow older, failure is not inconsequential anymore. What's at stake is not some grade or sports trophy, but the quality of your life and your ability to deal with the world around you.</li><li>Don't let that intimidate you, though. You have the best teachers in the world: the wisest philosophers who ever lived. And not only you are capable, but the professor is also asking for something very simple: just begin the work. The rest follows.</li></ul>

Reboot The Real Work - Day 164

<ul><li>No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don't have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have. </li><li>John D. Rockefeller believed that "a man's wealth must be determined by the relation of his desires and expenditures to his income. If he feels rich on $10 and has everything he desires, he really is rich." </li><li>Today, you could try to increase your wealth, or you could take a shortcut and just want less. </li></ul>

Want Nothing =Have Everything - Day 23

"You can bind up my leg, but not even Zeus has the power to break my freedom of choice." - Epictetus
<ul>
<li>Great men like Epictetus, Stockdale, McCain etc., where put under chains.</li>
<li>None of these men broke. No one could make them sacrifice their principles. That's the thing - someone can throw you in chains, but they don't have the power to change who you are. Even under the worst torture and cruelties that humans can inflict on one another, our power over our own mind and our power to make our own decisions can't be broken - only relinquished.</li>
</ul>

They Can Throw You In Chains, But... - Day 31

"If a person seeks what is controlled by others, he will be agitated, fearful, and unstable." - Epictetus<ul><li>Epictetus is reminding you that serenity and stability are the results of your choices and judgment, not your environment. If 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.</li></ul>

If You Want To Be Unsteady - Day 158

<ul><li>You have two essential tasks in life: to be a good person and to pursue the occupation that you love. Everything else is a waste of energy. </li><li>How does one do that? Stoics makes it simple enough: say no to distractions, to destructive emotions, to outside pressure. Ask yourself: What is it that only I can do? Try to do the right thing when situation calls for it. Treat other people the way you would hope to be treated. And understand that every small choice and tiny matter is an opportunity to practice these principles.</li><li>That's it. That's what goes into the most important skill of all: how to live </li></ul>

Two Tasks - Day 80

"Consider who you are. Above all, a human being, carrying no greater power than your own reasoned choice, which oversees all other things, and is free from any other master." - EpictetusYour hidden power is your ability to use reason and make choices, however limited or small. Think about the areas of your life where you are under duress or weighted down by obligation. What are the choices available to you, day after day? Are you taking advantage? Are you finding the positives?

Your Hidden Power - Day 32

<ul><li>I was shipwrecked before I even boarded... the journey showed me this - how much of what we have is unnecessary, and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it's necessary, never suffering the loss. - Seneca</li><li>The stoics weren't being hypothetical when they said we ought to ACT with a reverse clause and that even the most unfortunate events can turn out to be for the best. The entire philosophy is founded on that idea! </li></ul>

Seeking Out Shipwrecks - Day 20

We're all complicated people. We have multiple sides to ourselves - conflicting wants to be desires, and fears. The outside world is no less confusing and contradictory. If we're not careful, all these forces - pushing and pulling - will eventually tear us apart.We have a choice: to stand with the philosopher and focus strenuously on the inside of the or to behave like a leader of a mob, becoming whatever the crowd needs at a given moment.If we do not focus on our internal integration - on self-awareness - we risk external disintegration.

(Dis)Integration - Day 208

How can people prove their words to be their own - by putting into practice what they've been preaching. <ul><li>There was a lot of borrowing among the philosophers. That's because they weren't concerned with authorship. More important, they believed that what was said mattered less than what was done. </li><li>You're welcome to take all of the words, feel free to tweak and edit and improve. Adapt them to the real conditions and put them into practice. Speak with your actions more than anything else. </li></ul>

Make the Words Your Own - Day - 6

<ul><li>"Live each day as if it were your last" is a chiche. Plenty say, few actually do it. </li><li>A better analogy would be soldiers who are about to leave on deployment. Not knowing whether they'll return or not, what do they do? </li><li>They get their affairs in order, handle their business, tell their children or family that they love them. No time for quarrelling and other petty things. </li><li>When ready to go - hoping to come back in one piece but prepared for the possibility that they might not. Let us live today that same way. </li></ul>

Pretend Today Is The End - Day 117

<ul><li>The way we nervously worry about some looming bad news is strange. By definition, the waiting means it hasn't happened yet so that feeling bad in advance is totally voluntary. </li><li>The pragmatist, is too busy to waste time on such silliness. Think about it. Best case scenario - if the news turns out better than expected, all this time wasted in fear. Worst case scenario - we were miserable for extra time, by choice. </li><li>Let the news come in when it does. Be too busy working to care. </li></ul>

Don't Be Miserable In Advance - Day 15

"As Cicero says, we hate gladiators if they are quick to save their lives by any means; we favor them if they show contempt for their lives." - Seneca <ul><li>We do not need to disregard our physical safety or engage in wanton acts of violence to be brave. But nobody respects a coward. Nobody likes a shirker of duty. Nobody admires a person who puts too high a price on their own comfort and needs. </li><li>That's the irony of cowardice. It's aimed at self-protection, but it creates shameful secrets. Self-preservation is hardly worth it because of everything it costs in return. </li><li>Be brave. Be dignified. </li></ul>

Dignity And Bravery - Day 127

<ul><li>The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiation between what we can change and what we can't. What we have influence over and what we do not. </li><li>There's something called Serenity prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." </li><li>If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control and what parts are not, we will not only be happier, we will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle. </li></ul>

Control And Choice - Day 148

<ul><li>It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to it's worth, for then you won't tire and give up. </li><li>If you give things more time and energy than they deserve, they're no longer lesser things. You've made them important by the life you've spent on them.</li><li>And sadly, you've made the important things - your family, your health, your true commitments - less so as a result of what you've stolen from them. </li></ul>

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - Day 16

I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent - no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you. - Seneca<ul><li>There's a benefit for so-called misfortune. Having experienced and survived it, we walk away with a better understanding of our own capacity and inner strength. </li><li>So today if things look like they might take a bad turn, why worry? This might be one of those formative experiences you will be grateful for later. </li></ul>

How Can You Know Whether You've Never Been Tested - Day 29

<ul><li>That fact that you can think, read this thought, able to reason things - all of this is what gives you the ability to improve your circumstances and become better. It's important to appreciate this because it's a genuine ability.</li><li>Take a little time today to remember that you're blessed with the capacity to use logic and reason to navigate situations and circumstances. This gives you the unthinkable power to alter your circumstances and the circumstances of others. And remember that with power comes great responsibility.</li></ul>

That Sacred Part Of You - Day 221

"Here's a lesson to test your mind's mettle: take part of a week in which you have only the most meager and cheap food, and ask yourself if this is really the worst that you feared. It is when times are good that you should gird yourself for tougher times ahead, for when fortune is kind the soul can build defenses against her ravages. So it is that soldiers practice maneuvers in peacetime, erecting bunkers with no enemies in sight and exhausting themselves under no attack so that when it comes they won't grow tired." - Seneca

Preparing On The Sunny Day - Day 35

<ul><li>Why are you reading these entries? Not to pass your time - there are plenty of easier choices than reading. Because you are learning how to live. Because you want to be freer, fear less, and achieve a state of peace. Education - reading and meditating on the wisdom of great minds - is not to be done for its own sake. It has a purpose.</li><li>Remember that imperative on the days you start to feel distracted, when watching television or having a snack seems like a better use of your time than reading or studying philosophy. Knowledge - self knowledge in particular - is freedom.</li></ul>

Education Is Freedom - Day 149

<ul><li>At the beginning or end of each day, the Stoic sits down with his journal and reviews: what he did what he thought, what could be improved.</li><li>Keep your own journal, whether it's saved on a computer or in a little book. Be unflinching in your assessments. Notice what contributed to your happiness and what detracted from it. Write down what you'd like to work on or quotes that you like.</li><li>By making the effort to record such thoughts, you're less likely to forget them. An added bonus: you'll have a running tally to track your progress too.</li></ul>

The Day In Review - Day 169

<ul><li>Self-awareness is the ability to objectively evaluate the self, to question our own instincts, patterns, and assumptions. But even our own eyes deceive us.</li><li>I can't even trust my own senses? Because our senses are often wrong, our emotions overly alarmed, our projections overly optimistic, were better off not rushing to conclusions about anything. We can take a beat with everything we do and become aware of everything that's going on so we can make the right decision.</li></ul>

Don't Trust The Senses - Day 212

<ul><li>Heraclitus would shed tears whenever he went out in public - Democritus laughed. One saw the whole as a paradise of miseries, the other of follies. And so, we should take a lighter view of things and bear them with an easy spirit, for it is more human to laugh at life than to lament it. </li><li>Like Democritus, we can make that same choice. There is more humor than hate to be found in just about every situation. And at least humor is productive - making things less heavy, not more so. </li></ul>

Laugh, Or Cry? - Day 21

<ul><li>After all you've read, it night be tempting to think: This stuff is great. I get it. I'm a Stoic. But it's not that easy. Just because you agree with the philosophy doesn't mean the roots have fully taken hold in your mind. </li><li>Fooling with books so you can sound smart or have an intimidating library is like tending a garden to impress your neighbours. The seeds of Stoicism are long underground. Do the work required to nurture and tend to them. So that they - and you - are prepared and sturdy for the hard winters of life. </li></ul>

A Garden Is Not For Show - Day 40

<ul><li>Let's say someone has treated you rudely. It's natural to think: Oh that's how the world works, or One day it will be my turn to be like that. </li><li>But the proper response - indeed the best revenge - is to exact no revenge at all. If you meet other people's dishonesty with dishonesty of your own, guess what? You're proving them right - now everyone is a liar. </li><li>Instead, today, let's seek to be better than the things that disappoint or hurt us. It's awful to cheat, to be selfish, to feel the need to inflict pain on our fellow beings. Meanwhile, living morally and well is quite nice. </li></ul>

Revenge Is A Dish Best Not Served - Day 68

<ul><li>Cato the younger had enough money to dress in fine clothing. Yet he often walked around Rome barefoot. He chose this way because he was training his soul to be strong and resilient. He was learning indifference: an attitude of "let come what may" that would serve him well. </li><li>His training prepared him for any conditions, any kind of luck. If we undergo our own training and preparations, we might find ourselves similarly strengthened. </li></ul>

A Strong Soul Is Better Than Good Luck - Day 26

<ul><li>Marcus read all of Epictetus's ideas and he absorbed them wholly with a deep understanding. They became part of his DNA as a human being. He quoted them at length over the course of his life, finding real clarity and strength in words, even amid the immense luxury and power he would come to possess.</li><li>That's the kind of deep reading and study we need to cultivate as well, which is why we're reading just one thought a day instead of a book at a time. So we can take the time to read attentively and deeply.</li></ul>

Push For Deep Understanding - Day 171

<ul><li>Marcus Aurelius constantly points out how the emperors who came before him were barely remembered just a few years later.</li><li>The same goes for those driven to the heights of hate or anger or obsession or perfection. Alexander the great - one of the most ambitious and passionate men - was buried in the same ground as his mule driver. Eventually, all of us will pass away and slowly be forgotten. We should enjoy this brief time we have on earth - not be enslaved to emotions that make us miserable and dissatisfied.</li></ul>

The Smoke And Dust Of Myth - Day 202

<ul><li>You messed up a little. Or maybe you messed up a lot.</li><li>So? That doesn't change the philosophy that you know. It's not as if your reasoned choice has permanently abandoned you. Rather, it was you who temporarily abandoned it.</li><li>Remember that the tools and aims of our training are unaffected by the turbulence of the moment. Stop, regain your composure. It's waiting for you.</li></ul>

When You Lose Control - Day 205

<ul><li>It's easy to blame our circumstances. One person curses that they weren't born taller, another that they're not smarter, with a different complexion, or born in a different country. It'd be hard to find a single person - who doesn't think they're deficient in atleast some way. </li><li>But there are positive qualities that you can develop that don't depend on genetic accents. You have the choice to, be truthful, dignified, endure, be happy, be free, avoid trafficking in gossip, be gracious. </li><li>And honestly, aren't the traits that are the result of effort and skill more impressive anyway? </li></ul>

Show The Qualities You Were Made For - Day 78

<ul><li>The person sitting next to you on the plane, the one who is loudly chattering and knocking around in your space? In these situations, you might feel it takes everything you have to restrain yourself from murdering them. </li><li>It's funny how that thought comes into our heads before, you know, politely asking them to stop, or making a minor scene of asking for a different seat. We don't just want people to be better, we expect it to magically happen, that we can simply will other people to change, with our angry stare. </li><li>Although when you think about it, it makes you wonder who the rude one actually is.</li></ul>

Don't Get Mad, Help - Day 69

<ul><li>Today, we have forecasters and experts who can fairly accurately predict storm patterns. Today, we're defenseless against a hurricane only if we refuse to prepare or heed the warnings.</li><li>If we don't have a plan, if we never learned how to put up the storm windows, we will be at the mercy of these external - and internal - elements. We're still puny human beings compared with one hundred miles per hour winds, but we have the advantage of being able to prepare - being able to struggle against them in a new way.</li></ul>

Prepare For The Storm - Day 196

If you start something and right away feel yourself getting lazy and irritated, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? If it really is a necessity, ask yourself: Whats behind my reluctance? Fear? Spite? Fatigue?Don't forge ahead hoping that someone will relieve you or someone will explain you why what you're doing matters. Don't be the person who says yes with their mouth but no with their actions. Quality is much better than quantity.

When You Feel Lazy - Day 24

<ul><li>All of us have used phrases like, "I'm going to be straightforward with you here... ", "I'll be honest with you... ", "No disrespect but..." Empty expressions or not, if you say you're being honest now, does that mean you usually aren't? </li><li>What if, instead, you cultivated a life and a reputation in which honesty was as emphatic and explicit as a contract, as permanent as a tattoo? Not only would it save you from needing to use the reassurances that other, less scrupulous people must engage in, it will make you a better person. </li></ul>

Honesty As Our Default - Day 66

<ul><li>It's easier to quote, to rely on the wise words of others. Especially when the people you're deferring to are such towering figures. </li><li>It's harder (and more intimidating) to venture out on your own and express your own thoughts. But how do you think those wise and true quotes from those towering figures were created in the first place? </li><li>Your own experiences have value. You have accumulated your own wisdom too. Stake your claim. Put something down for the ages - in words and also in example. </li></ul>

Stake Your Own Claim - Day 138

<ul><li>The notion of original sin has weighed down humankind for centuries. In reality, we're made to be good to each other.</li><li>You were born good. All of us have been made by nature, so that we can live free from error and nobly - not that one can and another can't, but all. You were born with an attraction to virtue & self-mastery. If you've gotten far from that, it's not out of some inborn corruption but from a nurturing of the wrong things and ideas. As Seneca has pointed out, philosophy is a tool to strip it all away - to get back to our true nature.</li></ul>

You Were Born Good - Day 86

<ul><li>Since the vast majority of our words & actions are unnecessary, confining them will create an abundance of leisure & tranquility. We must also confine unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don't tag along after them. </li><li>What vanity obligates us to do, what greed signs us up for, what ill discipline adds to our plate, what a lack of courage prevents us from saying no to. All of this we must cut, cut, cut. </li></ul>

Confining The Unnecessary - Day 13

<ul><li>Dancing is a popular metophor for life. One must go along with the music, feel and follow and flow with the partner. But the fact is nobody ever gets up on stage and tries to tackle a dancer. The dancer never gets choked out by a rival. </li><li>For a wrestler, on the other hand, adversity and the unexpected are part and parcel of what they do. Their sport is battle, just like life. They are fighting their opponent as well as their own limitations, emotions, etc. </li><li>Life, like wrestling, requires more than graceful movement. We have to undergo hard training and cultivate an indomitable will to prevail. </li></ul>

Life Isn't A Dance - Day 45

We go through our days responding and reacting, but it's better to really pause and ask: Is this the kind of thing the person I would like to be should do? The work of living is to set standards and then not compromise them. When you're brushing your teeth, choosing your friends, losing your temper, instructing your child, or walking your dog - all of these are opportunities. Now I want to do good - that's an excuse. But I will do good in this particular instance, right now. Set a standard; hold fast to it. That's all there is.

Set The Standards And Use Them - Day 64

"Doesn't the light of a lamp shine and keep its glow until its fuel is spent? Why shouldn't your truth, justice, and self-control shine until you are extinguished?" - Marcus Aurelius Seneca writes that, "we mortals are lighted and extinguished." Whether the wick of your lamp is being lit for the first time, after a long period of darkness, or even right before the proverbial big sleep, it makes no difference. Here is where you are right now, and it's as good a place as any to let virtue shine and continue to shine for as long as you exist.

Let Virtue Shine Bright - Day 56

<ul><li>A Zen master who had a beautiful cup would repeat to himself, "The glass is already broken." He enjoyed the cup and used it, but in his mind it was already broken. And so one day when it actually did break, he said, "Of course."</li><li>Devastation - that feeling of shock - is a factor of how unlikely we considered the event. No one is wrecked by the fact that it's snowing in the winter, because we've accepted (and even anticipated) this turn of events. What about the occurrences that surprise us? We might not be so shocked if we took the time to consider their possibility. </li></ul>

The Glass Is Already Broken - Day 108

<ul><li>This is important enough that it bears repeating: a wise person knows what's inside their circle of control and what is outside of it.</li><li>The circle of control contains just one thing: YOUR MIND. Everything else, even your physical body isn't completely within the circle. There are physical illness not under your control.</li><li>The good news is you got fewer things you need to think about. There is clarity in simplicity. You've got just one thing to manage: your choices, your will, your mind.</li><li>So mind it.</li></ul>

Circle of Control - Day 160

"You are afraid of dying. But, come now, how is this life of yours anything but death?" - Seneca <ul><li>Most of us are afraid of dying. But sometimes this fear begs the question: To protect what exactly? For a lot of people the answer is: hours of television, gossiping, wasting potential, reporting to a boring job, and on and on and on. Expect, in the strictest sense, is this actually a life? Is this worth gripping so tightly and being afraid of losing? </li><li>It doesn't sound like it. </li></ul>

What Are You So Afraid Of Losing - Day 139

<ul><li>Turn your mind away from the things that provoke it. If you find discussing politics at home leads to fighting or your siblings choices bother you, why don't you stop making these choices your concern? </li><li>It's not a sign of weakness to shut them out. Instead, it's a sign of strong will. Try saying, "I know the reaction I typically take in these situations, and I'm not going to do it this time." and then follow it with: "I'm also going to remove this stimulus from my life in the future as well."</li><li>Because what follows is peace and serenity. </li></ul>

The Pleasure Of Tuning Out The Negative - Day 113

<ul><li>When someone has a strong opinion about something, it usually says more about them than whatever or whomever the opinion happens to be. This is especially true when it comes to resentment and hatred of other people. </li><li>A Stoic does two things. They ask: Is this opinion inside my control? If there is a chance for influence or change, they take it. But if there isn't, they accept this person as they are (and never hate a hater). </li><li>Our job is tough enough already. We don't have time to think about what other people are thinking, even if it's about us. </li></ul>

Dealing With Haters - Day 42

<ul><li>Something happened that we wish had not. Which of these is easiest to change: our opinion or the event that is past? </li><li>The answer is obvious. Accept what happened and change your wish that it had not happened. The art of acquiescence - to accept rather than fight every little thing. </li><li>Stoics take us a step forward. Instead of simply accepting, they urge us to enjoy what has happened - whatever it is. A love of fate. </li><li>To wish for what has happened to happen is a clever way to avoid disappointment, but to actually feel gratitude for what happens? To love it? That's a recipe for happiness and joy. </li></ul>

Accepting What Is - Day 87

From the team that brought you The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, a beautiful daily devotional of Stoic meditations—an instant Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller. Why have history's greatest minds—from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with today's top performers from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities—embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise. The Daily Stoic offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you'll find one of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful glossary of Greek terms. By following these teachings over the course of a year (and, indeed, for years to come) you'll find the serenity, self-knowledge, and resilience you need to live well.

Control And Choice - Day 148

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REINHOLD NIEBUHR

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