If you're an avid podcast listener and a student of the Stoics, you're probably always on the look out for good Stoicism podcasts to plug into. If you're not familiar with them, podcasts are a great way to absorb information when reading isn't convenient. That could be while driving, while…
In Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, the main character, Binx Bolling, periodically muses on the concept of a repetition. He first explains it as follows (if you’re like me, reading the explanation will need several repetitions before it sinks in!): “What is a repetition? A repetition is the re-enactment of past…
In his Consolation to Helvia, the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger asks: “Is it not madness and the wildest lunacy to desire so much when you can hold so little?” He argues it's unwise “to think that it is the amount of money and not the state of mind that…
I recently heard a song I hadn’t listened to in years. I say “heard” instead of “listened” because this time, the song moved me in a way it never had before. It’s easy to listen to something without really processing it. Truly hearing it—taking it in and reflecting on it—is…
When Chinese author Zhang Wei paid £7,600 to drink the world’s most expensive dram of whisky, he said, “In a nutshell, it tasted good. I was drinking not so much the whisky but a lot of history.” 139 years of history to be exact. Or so he thought. It was…
When the book A Million Little Pieces was published in 2003, it marked a major victory for James Frey. He had spent twelve years in France trying to become a writer, and now he finally was one. But for Frey, success wasn’t about getting published—it was about finally writing a…
The Stoics were big on writing, mainly as a way to collect and reflect on their thoughts. Marcus Aurelius’ famous book, Meditations, is actually just a collection of his personal notes—it was never meant for anyone else to read. Epictetus and Seneca also encouraged their students to journal regularly as…
One of the best things about Stoic philosophy is how relevant its 2,000-year-old teachings still are today. Timeless wisdom like “If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it” and “While we wait for life, life passes” never go out of…
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…
One of the great things about Stoic spiritual exercises—including Stoic negative visualisation—is that they can generally be done by anyone, anywhere, at any time. Similar to other ancient Stoic techniques like writing in a journal and practising voluntary hardship, negative visualisation doesn't require the aspiring Stoic to be in a…