Stoic Meditations
ລາຍລະອຽດຊ່ອງທາງ
Stoic Meditations
Occasional reflections on the wisdom of Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers with Prof. Massimo Pigliucci. Complete index by author and source at https://massimopigliucci.org/stoic-podcast/. (cover art by Marek Škrabák; original music by Ian Jolin-Rasmussen).
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1094 ຕອນ1094. The Olympics have already started!
When faced with anything painful or pleasurable, anything bringing glory or disrepute, realize that the crisis is now, that the Olympics have started,...
1093. Homer and Chrysippus
If I admire the interpretation [of a philosophical treatise], I have turned into a literary critic instead of a philosopher, the only difference being...
1092. Don't judge others
Someone bathes in haste; don’t say he bathes badly, but in haste. Someone drinks a lot of wine; don’t say he drinks badly, but a lot. Until you know t...
1091. Non sequiturs
The following are non-sequiturs: ‘I am richer, therefore superior to you’; or ‘I am a better speaker, therefore a better person, than you.’
1090. Every cup has two handles
Everything has two handles: one by which it may be borne, another by which it cannot. If your brother acts unjustly, do not lay hold on the affair by...
1089. Of insults and logic
Whenever anyone criticizes or wrongs you, remember that they are only doing or saying what they think is right. They cannot be guided by your views, o...
1088. Wrong priorities
As you are careful when you walk not to step on a nail or turn your ankle, so you should take care not to do any injury to your character at the same...
1087. Conversation and company
When you’re called upon to speak, then speak, but never about banalities like gladiators, horses, sports, food and drink – common-place stuff. Above a...
1086. Grief and loss
When somebody’s wife or child dies, to a man we all routinely say, ‘Well, that’s part of life.’ But if one of our own family is involved, then right a...
1085. Money
If I can make money while remaining honest, trustworthy and dignified, show me how and I will do it. But if you expect me to sacrifice my own values,...
1084. On insults
Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, reali...
1083. Do not groan inwardly
When you see anyone weeping for grief, either that his son has gone abroad or that he has suffered in his affairs, take care not to be overcome by the...
1082. The fundamental tradeoff
You have to realize, it isn’t easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are goi...
1081. Your reservoir of virtues
Provoked by the sight of a handsome man or a beautiful woman, you will discover within you the contrary power of self-restraint. Faced with pain, you...
1080. The path to peace
Don’t hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace.
1079. The use of impressions
What quality belongs to you? The intelligent use of impressions. If you use impressions as nature prescribes, go ahead and indulge your pride, because...
1078. Facts vs value judgments
It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.
1077. You should always have two goals in mind
When you’re about to embark on any action, remind yourself what kind of action it is. If you’re going out to take a bath, set before your mind the thi...
1076. Remember, we are all mortals
If you kiss your child or your wife, say to yourself that it is a human being that you're kissing; and then, if one of them should die, you won't be u...
1075. Question your impressions
So make a practice at once of saying to every strong impression: ‘An impression is all you are, not the source of the impression.’ Then test and asses...
1074. The fundamental rule of life
Some things are up to us, while others are not. Up to us are opinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing; not...
1073. Virtue is the only good
Despise poverty; no man lives as poor as he was born: despise pain; either it will cease or you will cease: despise death; it either ends you or takes...
1072. What Nature has given us
I have placed every good thing within your own breasts: it is your good fortune not to need any good fortune. Yet many things befall you which are sad...
1071. The Stoic deterministic universe
The fates guide us, and the length of every person’s days is decided at the first hour of their birth: every cause depends upon some earlier cause: on...
1070. We should seek out life's challenges
To be always prosperous, and to pass through life without a twinge of mental distress, is to remain ignorant of one half of nature. You are a great hu...
1069. It doesn't matter what you bear, but how you bear it
Good people ought to act so as not to fear troubles and difficulties, nor to lament their hard fate, to take in good part whatever befalls them, and f...
1068. No evil can befall a good person
The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of a brave person; for the mind of someone brave maintains its balance and throws its own complexio...
1067. The Stoic argument from design
Seneca presents an argument from design to conclude that the universe is rationally and providentially arranged, just like Cleanthes, Chrysippus, and...
1066. Stoic R&R
It does good also to take walks out of doors, that our spirits may be raised and refreshed by the open air and fresh breeze. Sometimes we gain strengt...
1065. Democritus vs Heraclitus
We ought therefore to bring ourselves into such a state of mind that all the vices of the vulgar may not appear hateful to us, but merely ridiculous,...
1064. Stoic non-attachment
Zeno, the chief of our school, when he heard the news of a shipwreck, in which all his property had been lost, remarked, “Fortune bids me follow philo...
1063. The reserve clause
He who does many things often puts himself in Fortune’s power, and it is safest not to tempt her often, but always to remember her existence, and neve...
1062. The problem with busyness
We must limit the running to and fro which most people practice, rambling about houses, theaters, and marketplaces. They mind other peoples’ business,...
1061. What do we labor for?
The next point to these will be to take care that we do not labour for what is vain, or labour in vain: that is to say, neither to desire what we are...
1060. The premeditatio malorum
For by looking forward to everything which can happen as though it would happen to us, we take the sting out of all evils, which can make no differenc...
1059. It's a matter of attitude
In every station of life you will find amusements, relaxations, and enjoyments; that is, provided you be willing to make light of evils rather than to...
1058. How many books? How many authors?
What is the use of possessing numberless books and libraries, whose titles their owner can hardly read through in a lifetime? A student is over-whelme...
1057. The real value of things
Let us accustom ourselves to set aside mere outward show, and to measure things by their uses, not by their ornamental trappings.
1056. Whereby Seneca praises Diogenes
The best amount of property to have is that which is enough to keep us from poverty, and which yet is not far removed from it.
1055. The problem with too much wealth
If you compare all the other ills from which we suffer—deaths, sicknesses, fears, regrets, endurance of pains and labors—with those miseries which our...