Cato the Younger was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic. He is remembered for his stubbornness, tenacity, immunity to bribes, and his unbending opposition to Julius Caesar (so unbending that he preferred death to being ruled by Caesar). He was a Stoic who exemplified virtue. When he was made quaestor in 65…
“Music, maestro, please!” With a flourish, the maestro assumes control of the orchestra. Waving his wand with vigour yet control, he directs his charges. Magically, he draws harmonious sound from the different groups of instruments. The maestro sets the tempo. She synchronizes. She permits entry to the various ensemble members. She shapes the whole performance.…
Before a big game between Manchester United and Juventus in 1996, United’s Eric Cantona sparked a row with Juve’s Didier Deschamps.“He gets by because he gives 100%, but he will never be more than a water carrier,” said Cantona. The "water carrier” label, used disparaginly by Cantona in this case, was also the nickname given…
From time to time, you experience the deflating realisation that you are sick of yourself. You grow weary because familiar sets of circumstances that shouldn’t cause disturbance cause disturbance. Disturbance enough that simple tasks are a burden. Oh, this again - why do you do this to yourself? Negativity then begets negativity. The reaction to…
As students of Stoicism, we don't just read about the philosophy and talk about its principles. We seek to practice it in daily life. In doing so, as anyone practicing anything does, we seek to become better. The better we become, the more we feel the benefits that the ancient Stoics spoke of - peace…
Stoic Week is an annual event run by the Modern Stoicism team that invites you to ‘live like a Stoic for a week’. It’s a free, seven-day course that has had over 20,000 participants since its inception in 2012. Having never taken part before, I decided 2020 was the year to give it a go.…
Live Like Louise is a website that aims to help women achieve their health and fitness goals. Created by Louise Thompson of Made In Chelsea, it's perhaps not the audience you might expect to be interested in philosophy. But there's no reason why they shouldn't be, and after hosting an interview with Donald Robertson recently…
Stoicism is a philosophy that dates back over two thousand years. Some of the earliest texts written by the ancient Stoics weren’t preserved long enough to read today, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of Stoic reading material for us to enjoy and learn from. From original material like Meditations, to modern-day interpretations like…
Michael McGill is Chief Information Officer with Medical Service Company and has been in the IT industry for more than 20 years. Rising through the ranks from front-line IT professional to IT leader, he has seen his fair share of change in a fast-moving industry. In response to the everyday chaos that a career in…
Stoic philosophy? Sounds boring. That was my reaction when I first heard Tim Ferriss talking about it on his podcast. Every few episodes he would mention how some guy Seneca wrote letters to some guy Lucilius 2000 years ago and how the advice he was giving his friend still applies to modern life. I couldn’t…