Stoic Wisdom

From the team that brought you The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, a 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.

A deeply informed exploration of what Stoic ideas have to offer us today Stoicism is the ideal philosophy of life for those seeking calm in times of stress and uncertainty. For many, it has become the new Zen, with meditation techniques that help us face whatever life throws our way. Indeed, the Stoics address a key question of our time: how can we be masters of our fate when the outside world threatens to unmoor our well-being? In Stoic Wisdom, Georgetown philosophy professor Nancy Sherman, an expert in ancient and modern ethics, shows what a practical modern Stoicism really looks like. Drawing on the wisdom of Stoic thinkers Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca and others, Sherman paints a portrait that uncovers the true subtlety and power of Stoic ideas. That portrait reveals a truth often ignored: that the Stoics never thought self-sufficiency was only about rugged self-reliance and mental discipline. We are at home in the world, they taught, when we are connected to each other in cooperative efforts. While mastery of one's self is essential, we also must draw on our deepest relationships for true strength and resilience. Bringing these ancient ideas to bear on 21st century environments-from Silicon Valley to first responders in a pandemic, to soldiers on the battlefield-Sherman shows how Stoicism can both prepare us for an uncertain future and help us cope with traumatic events. Stoic Wisdom will appeal to anyone feeling helpless or looking for deeper, meaningful strength and goodness in addressing life's biggest and smallest challenges.

'This groundbreaking study provides a much-needed philosophical framework for those practising mindfulness as well as a call to recover the pragmatic and therapeutic dimensions of philosophy.' - Stephen Batchelor, author of After Buddhism and Secular Buddhism Modern readers tend to think of Buddhism as spending time alone meditating, searching for serenity. Stoicism calls to mind repressing our emotions in order to help us soldier on through adversity. But how accurate are our popular understandings of these traditions? And what can we learn from them without either buying in wholeheartedly to their radical ideals or else transmuting them into simple self-improvement regimes that bear little resemblance to their original aims? How can we achieve more than happiness? In More than Happiness, Antonia Macaro delves into both philosophies, focusing on the elements that fit with our sceptical age, and those which have the potential to make the biggest impact on how we live. From accepting that some things are beyond our control, to monitoring our emotions for unhealthy reactions, to shedding attachment to material things, there is much, she argues, that we can take and much that we'd do better to leave behind. In this synthesis of ancient wisdom, Macaro reframes the 'good life', and gets us to see the world as it really is and to question the value of the things we desire. The goal is more than happiness: living ethically and placing value on the right things in life.

Six classic works of Stoic philosophy Rediscover six enormously enduring, influential, and important works of stoic mindfulness and philosophy. The classic works from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca - works that even thousands of years after their original publication, continue to inspire readers to greater self-mastery and self-improvement. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. Aurelius' Meditations is one of the greatest works of Greek and philosophical literature. The Enchiridion or Handbook of Epictetus is a short manual, Enchiridion was well-known in the ancient world, and in the medieval period, it was specially adapted for use in Greek-speaking monasteries. The Stoic writings of the philosopher Seneca offer powerful insights into the art of living, the importance of reason and morality, and continue to provide profound guidance to many through their eloquence, lucidity and timeless wisdom. Seneca's 4 most famous essays included in this volume - On a Happy Life, On the Shortness of Life, On Peace of Mind, and On Providence.

A beautiful daily journal to lead your journey in the art of living--and an instant WSJ bestseller! For more than two thousand years, Stoic philosophy has been the secret operating system of wise leaders, artists, athletes, brilliant thinkers, and ordinary citizens. With the acclaimed, bestselling books The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy and The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman have helped to bring the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus to hundreds of thousands of new readers all over the world. Now Holiday and Hanselman are back with The Daily Stoic Journal, a beautifully designed hardcover journal that features space for morning and evening notes, along with advice for integrating this ancient philosophy into our 21st century lives. Each week readers will discover a specific powerful Stoic practice, explained and presented with related quotations to inspire deeper reflection and application, and each day they will answer a powerful question to help gauge their progress. Created with a durable, Smyth-sewn binding and featuring a helpful introduction explaining the various Stoic tools of self-management, as well as resources for further reading, this is a lasting companion volume for people who already love The Daily Stoic and its popular daily emails and social media accounts. It can also be used as a stand-alone journal, even if you haven’t read the previous books. For anyone seeking inner peace, clarity, and effectiveness in our crazy world, this book will help them immensely for the next year—and for the rest of their lives.

This compelling, highly actionable guide shows you how to deal more effectively with whatever life throws at you and live up to your best self. A mix of timeless wisdom and empowering advice, The Little Book of Stoicism will point the way to anyone seeking a calm and wise life in a chaotic world.

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • LOS ANGELES TIMES SOCAL INDIE BESTSELLER Are self-doubt and other negative feelings living rent free in your mind? If so, you’re not alone. It’s common, even for the most accomplished among us, to let people, circumstances, and worries take up valuable headspace. Get Out of My Head is a lifeline for overwhelmed professionals seeking direction and tranquility in turbulent times, whether navigating daily stressors or experiencing defining moments. Author M. Andrew McConnell, CEO of RENTED, INC., shows you it’s possible to achieve clarity, make good decisions, and rise in your career, by illustrating that the human mind is not unlike real estate: adopting an owner’s mindset can make all the difference. Drawing on ancient Stoic philosophy, modern science, and remarkable stories of contemporary innovators in business, sports, and more, Get Out of My Head demonstrates how to effectively allocate your mental resources, set mental boundaries, and overcome challenges by seizing ownership of your own mind and channeling adversity as a vehicle for growth. The ancient Stoics recognized that the mind is a human’s most precious and finite resource—that it is the only thing of value anyone can truly possess. The Stoics also understood that the default human state is to waste our mind on trivial things. When we lend our mind to things that do not serve us, we are left with only remnants of our potential. Throughout this book, you’ll find stories of high-achieving modern Stoics who have successfully reclaimed their headspace, as well as the tools you need to develop better resilience—a remedy to chronic stress—so that you, too, can transition from “mind rentership” to “mind ownership.”

Regardless of their sometimes ambiguous concepts of God, the Roman Stoic philosophers did acknowledge Him, but on the basis of reason alone, because they had not met Christ. Nonetheless, they did deduce from God's existence our need to live lives of virtue, honor, tranquility, and self-control--and they developed effective techniques to help us achieve this. Musonius Rufus the teacher, Epictetus the slave, Seneca the adviser to emperors, and Marcus Aurelius, the emperor himself, produced a practical technology we can use to integrate Christian ethics into our own daily practice. As Kevin Vost so wonderfully illustrates in his new book, The Porch and the Cross, the Stoics can help us learn--and remember--what is up to us, and what is up to God alone.