My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck By Lightning

"Unlike Epicureanism, which quickly froze into a fixed dogma, Stoicism developed, and became more complex, comprehensive, and plausible. It forms a system of interconnected doctrines confirming and supporting each other. Plato, Aristotle, and Epicurus never managed as much; and the Stoics’ successors in the history of philosophy have produced nothing more comprehensive and systematic."

— Professor Terence Irwin, Classical Thought (Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 181. (via frugalstoic)

Introduction to Stoicism

Stoic Mindfulness - By continually monitoring their judgements, Stoics are to notice the early-warning signs of upsetting or unhealthy impressions and take a step back from them, withholding their “assent” or agreement, rather than being “carried away” into passion and vice.

Stoic Philanthropy - Extending the same natural affection or care that we are born feeling for our own body and physical wellbeing to include the physical and mental wellbeing of all mankind, through a process known as “appropriation” (oikeiosis) or widening the circle of our natural “self-love” to include all mankind. Described as “Stoic Philanthropy”, or love of mankind.

Stoic Acceptance - The discipline of desire, according to this view, is the virtue of living in harmony with the Nature of the universe as a whole. This entails having a “philosophical attitude” toward life and a loving acceptance of our Fate as necessary and inevitable.

Introduction to Stoicism: The Three Disciplines

"The only safe harbour in this life’s tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and to stand ready and confident, squaring the breast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us."

— Letters from a Stoic, Seneca (via notagood)

"Stoics adopt a manly course, and do not care about its appearing attractive to those who are entering upon it, but that it should as quickly as possible lead us to that lofty eminence which is so far beyond the scope of any missile weapon that it is above the reach of Fortune herself."

— Seneca, On the Firmness of the Wise Man (via ludimagister)

"As Seneca understood, to free yourself from fear you must work backward. You start with the thought of your mortality. You accept and embrace this reality. You think ahead to the inevitable moment of your death and determine to face it as bravely as possible. The more you contemplate your mortality, the less you fear it—it becomes a fact you no longer have to repress. By following this path, you know how to die well, and so you can now begin to teach yourself to live well. You will not cling to things unnecessarily. You will be strong and self-reliant, unafraid to be alone. You will have a certain lightness that comes with knowing what matters—you can laugh at what others take so seriously. The pleasures of the moment are heightened because you know their impermanence and you make the most of them. And when your time to die comes, as it will some day, you will not cringe and cry for more time, because you have lived well and have no regrets."

—

Robert Greene

(via ludimagister)

"Epictetus presents us with the image of Zeus as an athletic coach: ‘It is difficulties that show what men are. Consequently, when a difficulty befalls, remember that God, like a physical trainer, has matched you with a rugged young man.’ Why do this? To toughen and strengthen you, so you can become ‘an Olympic victor’ — in other words, so you can have the best life possible. Seneca, by the way, argued along similar lines: God, he said, ‘does not make a spoiled pet of a good man. He tests him, hardens him, and fits him for his own service.’ In particular, the adversities we experience count as ‘mere training,’ and ‘those things which we all shudder and tremble at are for the good of the persons themselves to whom they come’."

— William B Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (via zerogate)

"If, therefore, you wish not to be hot-tempered, do not feed your habit, set before it nothing on which it can grow. As the first step, keep quiet and count the days on which you have not been angry… . If you go as much as thirty days without a fit of anger, sacrifice to God. For the habit is first weakened and then utterly destroyed."

— Epictetus, Enchiridion (via radicaltraditionalism)

kellymagovern:

Epictetus (55-135 AD).

"If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say, “He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned."

— Epictetus (via fathershane)

(via perstephsanscouronne)