With the average user unlocking their phone 80 times per day, there's probably no better place for a Stoic wallpaper than the screen of our devices. Each of those 80 times we pick up our phones to mindlessly check something that won't have changed since the last time, the first thing we see is the lock…
Marcus Porcius Cato has left many legacies and has been admired by countless high-profile leaders and dignitaries since his death over 2000 years ago. Leaders like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and George Washington were all hugely inspired by the examples set by Cato the Younger. It was largely Joseph Addison’s 18th Century play Cato: A Tragedy…
If you're keen to emulate the ancient Stoics and aren't sure where to begin, one thing you can do straight away is start a Stoic journal. Reflecting on one's thoughts and getting them down on paper was a common practice among the likes of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca The Younger and Epictetus, and although each had…
Stoic Reminders I have to admit getting into Stoicism for me at first was pretty half-assed. The principles really resonated with me but I wasn't sure how I could implement them or even remember to think like a Stoic. One thing that really helped was making some simple Stoic reminders using post-it notes and putting…
For those wondering how to practice Stoic negative visualisation, the great news is that it can be easily done by basically anyone, anywhere, at any time! Similar to other ancient Stoic techniques like writing in a journal and practising self-denial, negative visualisation doesn't require the aspiring Stoic to be in a specific location at a…
Stoic from beginning to end Marcus Aurelius was a man who lived by the Stoic laws, which so capably go into making a virtuous man. He did this by nature and also by learned practices, all the way from his youth to his dying breath: “Adorn thyself with simplicity and with indifference towards the things…
Born into slavery Now, it’s no secret that steadfast character can be born out of strife and the philosopher, Epictetus, who lived to the ripe old age of 80, was no stranger to strife. He was born into slavery in A.D. 55, in what is now known as Pamukkale, Turkey but was then Phrygia’s Hierapolis.…
A dramatist dramatised Lucius Annaeus Seneca’s story reads like a soap opera; a fact that certainly didn’t go unnoticed by poets and playwrights throughout the 2000 years since he walked the earth. Chaucer, Dante, Montdeverdi, they all found special places for Seneca the Younger in their works. As a Stoic, he was a little different…
Who was Cato The Younger? Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis is a name that may well come up when you Google the word ‘Stoic,’ but you won’t find a list of comprehensive philosophical works by the man. Rather, Cato the Younger is famed for the influence he had on the politics and politicians of early Rome.…
Early Life In his considerable lifespan of around 72 years, from 334 to 262 BC, Zeno of Citium found the time to make quite a few waves. His teachings have been influential enough for astronomers to name a crater on the moon after him and what’s more, he was, in fact, the founder of Stoicism.…