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The Little Book of Stoicism The Little Book of Stoicism Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness Jonas Salzgeber Illustrations © 2019 Jonas Salzgeber. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 Jonas Salzgeber THE LITTLE BOOK OF STOICISM. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews. First paperback published 2019. FIRST EDITION. ISBN: 978-1791967284 www.njlifehacks.com Contents Introduction 1 PART 1: WHAT IS STOICISM 9 Chapter 1: The Promise of Stoic Philosophy 11 Practice the Art of Living: Become a Warrior- Philosopher 12 Promise #1: Eudaimonia 14 Promise #2: Emotional Resilience 17 Tame Restricting Emotions (≠ Unemotional) 19 Practice Stoicism and Become more Tranquil as a By-Product 23 Chapter 2: A Quick History Lesson 26 The Most Important Stoic Philosophers 29 Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BCE – 65 CE) 30 Musonius Rufus (c. 30 CE – c. 100 CE) 32 Epictetus (c. 55 CE – c. 135 CE) 33 Marcus Aurelius (121 CE – 180 CE) 34 Chapter 3: The Stoic Happiness Triangle 36 The Stoic Happiness Triangle in A Nutshell 38 1. Live with Areté: Express Your Highest Self in Every Moment 40 The Perfection of Our Natural Potential 43 The Four Cardinal Virtues 47 Character Beats Beauty 51 The Stoic Love of Mankind: Act for the Common Welfare 53 2. Focus on What You Control: Accept Whatever Happens and Make the Best Out of It 56 The Stoic Archer: Focus on the Process 60 Stoic Acceptance: Enjoy the Ride or Get Dragged Along 63 The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent Things 67 In Poker as in Life, You Can Win with Any Hand 71 3. Take Responsibility: Get Good from Yourself 73 The Freedom of Choice 76 The Mind Makes You Rich, Even in Exile 80 Disturbed or Invincible: That’s Up to You 83 Chapter 4: The Villain: Negative Emotions Get in the Way 87 We Want What’s Beyond Our Control 92 We Lack Awareness and Get Carried Away by Impressions 94 PART 2: 55 STOIC PRACTICES 99 Chapter 5: How to Practice Stoicism? 101 Brace Yourself 103 Be Mindful 104 Recharge Your Self-Discipline 106 Don’t Call Yourself a Philosopher 107 Chapter 6: Preparing Practices 109 Practice 1 The Stoic Art of Acquiescence: Accept and Love Whatever Happens 110 Practice 2 Undertake Actions with a Reserve Clause 114 Practice 3 What Stands in the Way Becomes the Way 117 Practice 4 Remind Yourself of the Impermanence of Things 120 Practice 5 Contemplate Your Own Death 123 Practice 6 Consider Everything as Borrowed from Nature 125 Practice 7 Negative Visualization: Foreseeing Bad Stuff 128 Practice 8 Voluntary Discomfort 131 Practice 9 Prepare Yourself for the Day: The Stoic Morning Routine 134 Practice 10 Review Your Day: The Stoic Evening Routine 137 Practice 11 Keep a Role Model in Mind: Contemplate the Stoic Sage 140 Practice 12 Stoic Aphorisms: Keep Your “Weapons” Ready at Hand 143 Practice 13 Play Your Given Roles Well 146 Practice 14 Eliminate the Nonessential 149 Practice 15 Forget Fame 151 Practice 16 Like a Minimalist: Live Simple 153 Practice 17 Take Back Your Time: Cut Out News and Other Timewasters 156 Practice 18 Win at What Matters 159 Practice 19 Become an Eternal Student 162 Practice 20 What Do You Have to Show for Your Years? 165 Practice 21 Do What Needs to Get Done 168 Chapter 7: Situational Practices: How to Deal with Yourself When Life Gets Tough? 171 Practice 22 Your Judgment Harms You 173 Practice 23 How to Deal With Grief 175 Practice 24 Choose Courage and Calm over Anger 178 Practice 25 Beat Fear with Preparation and Reason 182 Practice 26 Blame Your Expectations 185 Practice 27 Pain and Provocation: Great Opportunities for Virtue 188 Practice 28 The Equanimity Game 191 Practice 29 The Anti-Puppet Mindset 194 Practice 30 Life Is Supposed to Be Challenging 197 Practice 31 What’s so Troublesome Here and Now? 200 Practice 32 Count Your Blessings 203 Practice 33 Other-ize 205 Practice 34 Take the Bird’s-Eye View 208 Practice 35 It’s the Same Old Things 210 Practice 36 Meat Is Dead Animal: Observe Objectively 212 Practice 37 Avoid Rashness: Test Your Impressions 215 Practice 38 Do Good, Be Good 219 Chapter 8: Situational Practices: How to Handle Yourself When Other People Challenge You? 222 Practice 39 We Are All Limbs of the Same Body 224 Practice 40 Nobody Errs on Purpose 226 Practice 41 Find Your Own Faults 229 Practice 42 Forgive and Love Those Who Stumble 231 Practice 43 Pity Rather than Blame the Wrongdoer 234 Practice 44 Kindness Is Strength 237 Practice 45 How to Deal with Insults 239 Practice 46 Scratches Happen In Training 243 Practice 47 Don’t Abandon Others nor Yourself 246 Practice 48 For Such a Small Price, Buy Tranquility 249 Practice 49 Put Yourself in Other People’s Shoes 251 Practice 50 Choose Your Company Well 254 Practice 51 Don’t Judge But Yourself 257 Practice 52 Do Good, Not Only No Evil 260 Practice 53 Say Only What’s Not Better Left Unsaid 263 Practice 54 Listen with the Intent to Understand 265 Practice 55 Lead by Example 267 Acknowledgments 271 Selected Bibliography 272 Want More? 275 The Power of Philosophy “The power of philosophy to blunt the blows of fate is beyond belief. No missile can settle in her body; she is well- protected and impenetrable. She spoils the force of some missiles and wards them off with the loose folds of her dress, as if they had no power to harm; others she dashes aside, and throws them back with such force that they rebound upon the sender. Farewell.” – SENECA Introduction Introduction Maybe you’ve stumbled upon a smart quote by an ancient Stoic philosopher or you’ve read an article that shared some inspiring Stoic ideas. Maybe you’ve been told about that helpful and flourishing old philosophy by a friend or you’ve already studied a book or two about Stoicism. Or maybe, although chances are very low, you’ve never even heard about it before. However, encountering Stoicism in one way or another is the easy part. Understanding and explaining exactly what it is, though, is the tricky part. Recognizing and seeing exactly how it’s relevant today and how it can help you, is the challenging part. Fully grasping it and putting it into practice, is the ambitious part—that’s where the gold is hidden. What the Stoics taught and practiced in the era of gladiators fighting for their lives and Romans socializing in steaming baths is still remarkably applicable in the era of Game of Thrones and Facebook. The wisdom of this ancient philosophy is timeless, and its value in the quest for a happy and meaningful life is undeniable. With this book, you’re holding the treasure map in your hands. It introduces you to the leading philosophers. It gives you an easy to understand overview of the philosophy. It 1 The Little Book of Stoicism teaches you the core principles. It provides you with 55 Stoic Practices and helpful hints for the application in your challenging life. And most importantly, it shows you how to translate it from book page to action in the real world. Cool! But how does a twenty-something know how to write the Stoic treasure map for the good life? Fair enough, I’d be wondering about that too. After many years of school and university, I was sick of reading academic books and papers and learning about stuff that didn’t really teach me anything of real life value. So, literally the day after handing in my final paper, I left the country and started my seven months long travel around the world. I wanted to get away, see places and other cultures, but mainly I wanted to get to know myself so I’d know what I wanted to do with my life when I got back. That last part did not work out; however, I did figure out something else instead: “I somehow must have missed the class on how to live?!” In fifteen and a half years of schooling, I learned math, physics, chemistry, biology, and a bunch of other stuff, except how to deal with challenging situations? How to face my fears and struggles? What to do about my depressive feelings? How to deal effectively with the death of my friend? What to do with my anger? How to be more confident? Nope, I must have missed all those classes. That, by the way, is exactly what schools of philosophy were all about in the ancient world, they taught you how to live. And even though these schools don’t exist anymore, you and I and most people are in as much need of a philosophy that teaches us how to live as we ever were. Long story short, I decided to invest in myself and learn how to live well. From all the wisdom I devoured in the 2 Introduction following years, Stoic philosophy helped me the most, even though it didn’t start on good terms. Before I knew much (anything) about the philosophy, I thought this must be the most boring thing on earth. I mean, after all, it’s called Stoicism and not “Supermanism” or something else that would indicate it’s worth studying. I gave it a shot anyway, got hooked, and since then I’ve been a voracious student and practitioner of Stoic philosophy.
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