Stoicism
How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness
Jason Hemlock
Having read it
★★★☆☆
It was well written with some pertinent and helpful views, complemented by some good, historical insight from the (ancient) philosophers of Stoicism, but not quite the non-fiction, historical read I thought it might be.
Still, its self-help suggestions and attitudes were useful, especially explaining the benefits of journaling. Plus, it was somewhat comforting to know a few of my approaches in and learnings through life are, or trying to be, Stoic!
A good passage
Our challenges enable us to understand ourselves better and learn our limits, as well as our potential. Seneca discusses this in great depth in his work, On Providence. He states that it is ‘not what you endure, but how you endure [which] is important.’
It is an interesting book with many fascinating philosophical arguments. He felt that, for a decent man, his ‘good fortune is not to need good fortune’ because when you have achieved the inner harmony espoused by Stoicism, it does not matter what happens to you; you have the strength of spirit to withstand anything life can throw at you.
A second good passage
[...] there is more to life than maintaining a front for the benefit of the outside world.
One of the more insidious effects of being in constant contact with the world at large is that we have very little time that is ours alone.
A third good passage
Most people waste their time, according to Seneca. We cannot afford to do anything other than live in the now because tomorrow could be too late. We never know when our time here is up, but for the Stoic, this is not a bad thing because they are always ready to take their last breath, as they have the reassurance of knowing they’ve always valued the gifts of life. In comparison, most people stress about how short life is because they’re obsessing about the bad things that have happened in the past, worried about what the future will bring, failing to notice what’s going on in front of them right now.
Seneca states that we waste time because we don’t value it in the way we do our money or things. After all, it’s difficult to pin down time. It slips through our fingers when we try to hold onto it and it doesn’t have any tangible properties, so we’re happy to give it away to others who want it from us because we don’t see its worth.
[...]
Although Stoicism encourages a detachment from material things and tough times, this does not mean you become indifferent to them. Instead, you reprioritise your expectations so you’re focusing on being your best self rather than feeding your ego. When you are your best, success naturally follows without your putting effort or attachment into the result, which is one of the most empowering feelings you can experience.