Be a Stoic
“I consider you unfortunate because you’ve never been unfortunate. You’ve gone through life without an opponent. No one will know what you were capable of, not even you yourself” – Seneca (“On Providence”)
There are some works you simply can’t read quickly (i.e., you can, but there’s no point). It doesn’t matter that you read a lot, fast, easily process and analyze complex information and what have you… some titles your brain simply requires you to read gradually. Slowly, to slowly absorb words from the pages.
“Be a Stoic” is precisely such a work.
Stoicism has always been an interesting direction to me. And I don’t mean as a direction in philosophy, but as a direction in life. Of course, there are various misinterpretations of stoicism and confusion of some concepts (e.g., self-control isn’t the same as disinterest). And no, you don’t have to be destitute or live in a barrel and wear torn clothes (some of the stoics were very wealthy people of their time) to be of stoic nature.
“Both the speaker’s platform and the dungeon, each represents a place, one high, one low, but your freedom of choice can remain the same in both places, only if you want to preserve it” – Epictetus (“Discourses”)
The essence is stoics lived in the present moment and to the fullest, respecting certain values.
When we talk about the most influential stoics (those were, my dears, influencers, not these miseries who advertise adult diapers from three different manufacturers, just to get something for free and some cash in addition), worth mentioning are Epictetus, Zeno, Seneca, Musonius and, of course, perhaps the most famous stoic-philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius (whose famous “Meditations” we covered here).
We’ve encountered the author, Ryan Holiday, on these pages several years ago through his excellent book “Ego Is the Enemy.” This author is, by the way, a fervent promoter of stoicism. Now he’s (in collaboration with writer Stephen Hanselman) decided to bring us closer to the wisdom of the greatest stoic philosophers through the book “Be a Stoic”.
“You’re not body nor hairstyle but ability to choose correctly. If your choices are beautiful, you’ll be beautiful too” – Epictetus (“Discourses”)
The book is conceived in a very practical and interesting way.
You see, the full title of the book is “Be a Stoic: 366 Ancient Wisdoms for Each Day of the Year.” The author(s) decided to, for each day of the year, address some passage from works of famous stoics or some quote or thought of theirs, and then present to us the meaning of these stoic thoughts and application in modern times. So the author will here touch on Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, Diogenes Laertius and Musonius Rufus.
The book is divided into three parts (each covers four months), and the themes addressed are:
Part I: Meditation on Perception:
- January: Clarity
- February: Passions and Emotions
- March: Awareness
- April: Unbiased Thinking
Part II: Discipline of Action:
- May: Right Action
- June: Problem Solving
- July: Duty
- August: Pragmatism
Part III: Discipline of Will:
- September: Fortitude and Resilience
- October: Virtue and Kindness
- November: Acceptance (Amor fati)
- December: Meditations on Mortality
“I’ve often wondered how it is that everyone loves themselves more than others, yet places less value on their own opinion of themselves than on the opinion of other people… How much more weight we give to what our neighbors will say about us than what we ourselves think” – Marcus Aurelius (“Meditations”)
As you can notice, “Be a Stoic” addresses some very important life themes.
I’d just like to emphasize one important thing. You must understand that stoicism (including) and this book isn’t “philosophizing,” theorizing and delaying in some abstract constructions or blabbering about celestial phenomena. To questions like “What’s the best way to live?,” “What should I do with my anger?,” “Why do I fear death?,” “How to deal with difficult situations?,” “How to forgive?,” “How to be braver?” stoics didn’t approach like today’s various quasi-influencers (bold is intentional) in various so-called podcasts where when the host asks them such a question they start babbling and spewing for several minutes like politicians, and don’t say anything concrete and sensible, but almost write philosophical poetry… no, stoics didn’t view such questions abstractly, but were interested in reaching concrete answers that have practical value and application for (real) life. Yes, self-reflection and contemplation on such topics is important, but what’s even more important is concrete steps arising from it.
Ryan Holiday tries to address each chapter (i.e., “day”) through a few passages (each “day” in the book is most often covered on one page of the book, sometimes two) and does this through examples, insights, guidelines but also lots of questions that encourage the reader to think… and I think he did quite a good job with this approach regarding such a theme.
“Be a Stoic” is a book that reads easily, but (at least from my experience), isn’t intended for “rushing” through. Somehow, you have the impression like after a few chapters/”days,” your brain itself says “Let’s stop a bit, this needs to ‘settle.'” So, whether you plan to read one chapter every day or several (let that be your limit), don’t rush with this book.
“Leisure without learning – the tomb of a living man” – Seneca (“Letters to a Friend”)
All in all, this turned out to be a really excellent book in the end. “Be a Stoic” is a title you’ll surely return to occasionally (if nothing else, in a second reading you can establish a ritual of “one chapter every evening,” which will take you only two-three minutes).
Even if you’re not interested in stoicism (and especially if you are) in the practical element, this is a book that absolutely deserves your attention. It inspired me to, at some point, read Epictetus’s “Discourses” too.
And you, dear reader, have you already encountered any works of the stoics? 😊
Book price: Laguna | Vulkan | Delfi | Makart
