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The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

by Parker · 685 things on Twos

"Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only they truly live. Not satisfied to merely keep good watch over their own days, they annex every age to their own. All the harvest of the past is added to their store. Only an ingrate would fail to see that these great architects of venerable thoughts were born for us and have designed a way of life for us." - Seneca
Stoicism asserts that virtue "For nothing(meaning, chiefly, the four cardinal virtues of self-control, courage, justice, and wisdom) is happiness, and it is our perceptions of things—rather than the things themselves—that cause most of our trouble
We can’t control or rely on anything outside of our “reasoned choice”—our ability to use our reason to choose how we categorize, respond, and reorient ourselves to external events
What is the best way to live?
What do I do about my anger?
What are my obligations to my fellow human beings?
How can I deal with the difficult situations I face?
How should I handle the success or power I hold?
The discipline of perception: how we see and perceive the world around us
The discipline of action: the decisions and actions we take—and to what end
The discipline of will: how we deal with the things we cannot change, attain clear and convincing judgment, and come to a true understanding of our place in the world
By controlling our perceptions we can find mental clarity
In directing our actions properly and justly, we’ll be effective
In utilizing and aligning our will, we will find the wisdom and perspective to deal with anything the world puts before us
One day is as all days
"What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated—tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free." - Epictetus
You picked up this book because you are learning how to live. Because you want to be freer, fear less, and achieve a state of peace. Education—reading and meditating on the wisdom of great minds—is not to be done for its own sake. It has a purpose
Knowledge—self-knowledge in particular—is freedom
“How many have laid waste to your life when you weren’t aware of what you were losing, how much was wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and social amusements—how little of your own was left to you. You will realize you are dying before your time!” - Seneca
“All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.” - Marcus Aurelius
Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control
“Let all your efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view. It’s not activity that disturbs people, but false conceptions of things that drive them mad.” - Seneca
“By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.” - Robert Greene
Have you taken the time to get clarity about who you are and what you stand for? Or are you tooo busy chasing unimportant things, mimicking the wrong influences, and following disappointing or unfulfilling or nonexistent paths?
"The proper work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yarning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and assent. What then can pollute and clog the mind's proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions." - Epictetus
Choice - to do and think right
Refusal - of temptation
Yearning - to be better
Repulsion - of negativity, of bad influences, of what isn't true
Preparation - for what lies ahead or whatever may happen
Purpose - our guiding principle and highest priority
Assent - to be free of deception about what's inside and outside our control (and be ready to accept the latter
This is what the mind is here to do. We must make sure that it does—and see everything else as pollution or a corruption
"We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish, which should continually test itself. Greatness of soul will be lost, which can't stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable." - Seneca
The little compulsions and drives we have not only chip away at our freedom and sovereignty, they cloud our clarity. We think we're in control—but are we really?
Addiction is when we've lost the freedom to abstain
You must reclaim the ability to abstain because within it is your clarity and self-control
"Some thing are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing. We don't control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own." - Epictetus
We can't control the external events that happen but we can control our opinion about those events
You don't control the situation, but you control what you think about it
All we have is our own mind
"The essence of good is a certain kind of reasoned choice. Externals are only the raw material for our reasoned choice, which finds its own good or evil in working with the material. If judgments about the material are straight that makes our choices good, but if those judgments are twisted, our choices turn bad." - Epictetus
Experience steadiness, stability, and tranquility by filtering the outsidfe world through the straightener of our judgment
If our judgments are crooked because we don't use reason, then everything that follows will be crooked, and we will lose our ability to steady ourselves in the chaos and rush of life
If you want to be steady, if you want clarity, proper judgment is the best way
"For if a person shifts their caution to their own reasoned choices and the acts of those choices, they will at the same time gain the will to avoid, but if they shift their caution away from their own reasoned choices to things not under their control, seeking to avoid what is controlled by others, they will then be agitated, fearful, and unstable." - Epictetus
Serenity and stability are results of your choices and judgment, not your environment. If you seek to avoid all disruptions to tranquility—other people, external events, stress—you will never be successful. Your problems will follow you wherever you run and hide. But if you seek to avoid the harmful and disruptive judgments that cause those problems, then you will be stable and steady wherever you happen to be
"There is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of your sphere of choice, regarding nothing else as your possession, surrendering all else to God and Fortune." - Epictetus
According to the Stoics, our circle of control contains one thing: YOUR MIND
You've got just one thing to manage: your choices, your will, your mind
"Understand at last that you have something in you more powerful and divine than what causes bodily passions and pulls you like a mere puppet. What thoughts now occupy my mind? Is it not fear, suspicion, desire, or something like that?" - Marcus Aurelius
Think of all the interests vying for a share of your wallet or for a second of your attention
Every human being is pulled by these internal and external forces that are increasingly more powerful and harder to resist
Philosophy is simply asking us to pay careful attention and to strive to be more than a pawn
Paying attention requires work and awareness, but isn't that better than being jerked about on a string?
"Tranquility can't be grasped by those who have reached an unwavering and firm power of judgment—the rest constantly fall and rise in their decisions, wavering in a state of alternately rejecting and accepting things. What is the cause of this back and forth? It's because nothing is clear and they rely on the most uncertain guide—common opinion." - Seneca
Euthymia - believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction
Euthymia produces tranquility
Clarity of vision allows us to experience euthymia
That's not to say we're always going to be 100 percent certain of everything, or that we even should be. Rather, it's that we can rest assured we're heading generally in the right direction—that we don't need to constantly compare ourselves with other people or change our mind every three seconds based on new information
Tranquility and peace are found in identifying our path and in sticking to it: staying the course—making adjustments here and there, naturally—but ignoring the distracting sirens who beckon us to turn toward the rocks
"So in the majority of other things, we address circumstances not in accordance with the right assumptions, but mostly by following wretched habit. Since all that I've said is the case, the person in training must seek to rise above, so as to stop seeking out pleasure and steering away from pain; to stop clinging to living and abhorring death; and in the case of property and money, to stop valuing receiving over giving." - Musonius Refus
Know why you do what you do—do it for the right reasons
"I am your teacher and you are learning in my school. My aim is to bring you to completion, unhindered, free from compulsive behavior, unrestrained, without shame, free, flourishing, and happy, looking to God in things great and small–your aim is to learn and diligently practice all these things. Why then don't you complete the work, if you have the right aim and I have both the right aim and right preparation? What is missing? ... The work is quite feasible, and is the only thing in our power. ... Let go of the past. We must only begin. Believe me and you will see." - Epictetus
As we get older, failure is not so inconsequential anymore. What's at stake is not some arbitrary grade or intramural sports trophy, but the quality of your life and your ability to deal with the world around you
Just begin the work. The rest follows
It takes an artist's eye to see that the end of life is not unlike a ripe fruit falling from its tree
There is clarity (and joy) in seeing what others can't see, in finding grace and harmony in places others overlook
Focus on what is in our control as opposed to what is not
Right now we might be laid low with struggles, whereas just a few years ago we might have lived high on the hog, and in just a few days we might be doing so well that success is actually a burden. One thing will stay constant: our freedom of choice—both in the big picture and small picture
What happened yesterday—what happened five minutes ago—is the past. We can reignite and restart whenever we like
"Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning: What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion? What for tranquility? What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things. What, then? A rational being. What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions. How did I steer away from serenity? What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring? What did I fail to do in all these things?" - Epictetus
What bad habit did I curb today? How am I better? Were my actions just? How can I improve?
At the beginning or end of each day, the Stoic sits down with his journal and reviews: what he did, what he thought, what could be improved
External things can't fix internal issues
"By having some self-respect for your own mind and prizing it, you will please yourself and be in better harmony with your fellow human beings, and more in tune with the gods—praising everything they have set in order and allotted you." - Marcus Aurelius
It's not that these men are cheap. It's because the things that matter to them are cheap
Their lifestyle is the result of prioritizing. They cultivate interests that are decidedly below their financial means, and as a result, any income would allow them freedom to pursue the things they most care about
This kind of clarity—about what they love most in the world—means they can enjoy their lives. It means they'd still be happy even if the markets were to turn or their careers were cut short by injury
The more things we desire and the more we have to do to earn or attain those achievements, the less we actually enjoy our lives—and the less free we are
"Erase the false impressions from your mind by constantly saying to yourself, I have it in my soul to keep out any evil, desire or any kind of disturbance—instead, seeing the true nature of things, I will give them only their due. Always remember this power that nature gave you." - Marcus Aurelius
"Without a ruler to do it against, you can't make crooked straight." - Seneca
Wise people serve as model and inspiration. To bounce our ideas off and test our presumptions
Pick someone, watch what they do (and what they don't do), and do your best to do the same
"At every moment keep a sturdy mind on the task at hand, as a Roman and human being, doing it with strict and simple dignity, affection, freedom, and justice—giving yourself a break from all other considerations. You can do this if you approach each task as if it is our last, giving up every distraction, emotional subversion of reason, and all drama, vanity, and complaint over your fair share. You can see how mastery over a few things makes it possible to live an abundant and devout life—for, if you keep watch over these things, the gods won't ask for more." - Marcus Aurelius
Each day presents the chance to overthink things. Today, let's focus just on what's in front of us
"Do your job." - Bill Belichick
Botching what's right in front of you doesn't help anything
Find clarity in the simplicity of doing your job today
“If you wish to improve, be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters—don’t wish to seem knowledgeable. And if some regard you as important, distrust yourself.” - Epictetus
You owe it to your country and your family to know generally about event that may directly affect them, but that’s about all
How much more time, energy, and pure brainpower would you have available if you drastically cut your media consumption?
How much more rested and present would you feel if you were no longer excited and outraged by every scandal, breaking story, and potential crisis?
Return to the regimen and practices that we know are rooted in clarity, good judgment, good principles, and good health
"Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength." - Marcus Aurelius
Distracting and angering opponents is an easy way to knock them off their game
Anger is not impressive or tough—it's a mistake. It's weakness
Strength is the ability to maintain a hold of oneself. It's being the person who never gets mad, who cannot be rattled, because they are in control of their passions—rather than controlled by their passions
"Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice." - Epictetus
"Don't be bounced around, but submit every impulse to the claims of justice, and protect your clear conviction in every appearance." - Marcus Aurelius
Impulses of all kinds are going to come, and your work is to control them, like brining a dog to heel
Think before you act
Who is in control here? What principles are guiding me?
"I don't agree with those who plunge headlong into the middle of the flood and who, accepting a turbulent life, struggle daily in great spirit with difficult circumstances. The wise person will endure that, but won't choose it—choosing to be at peace, rather than at war." - Seneca
We're afraid of being still, so we seek out strife and action as a distraction. We choose to be at war when peace is in fact the more honorable and fitting choice
The man in the arena is admirable if we're in the arena for the right reasons
The paranoid often destroy themselves quicker and more spectacularly than any enemy
If you don't control your impulses, if you lose your self-control, you may be the very source of the disaster you so fear
"We have the power to hold no opinion about a thing and to not let it upset our state of mind—for things have no natural power to share our judgments." - Marcus Aurelius
It is possible to hold no opinion about a negative thing
Practice the ability of having absolutely no thoughts about something—act as if you had no idea it ever occurred
Getting angry almost never solves anything. Usually, it makes things worse
"Hate is too great a burden to bear" - Martin Luther King Jr.
"Our soul is sometimes a king, and sometimes a tyrant. A king, by attending to what is honorable, protects the good health of the body in its care, and gives it no base or sordid command. But an uncontrolled, desire-fueled, over-indulged soul is turned from a king into that most feared and detested thing—a tyrant." - Seneca
Power corruption comes down to the inner strength and self-awareness of individuals—what they value, what desires they keep in check, whether their understanding of fairness and justice can counteract the temptations of unlimited wealth and deference
Protect your peace of mind
"Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?" - Epictetus
Why are you subjecting yourself to this? Is this really the environment you were made for? To be provoked by nasty emails and an endless parade of workplace problems? Our adrenal glands can handle only so much before they become exhausted
Is this really the life I want? Every time you get upset, a little bit of life leaves the body. Are these really the things on which you want to spend that priceless resource? Don't be afraid to make a change—a big one
Please can become punishment
"Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away by it, let it await your action, give yourself a pause. After that, bring to mind both times, first when you have enjyed the pleasure and later when you will regret it and hate yourself. Then compare to those the joy and satisfaction you'd feel for abstaining altogether. However, if a seemingly appropriate time arises to act on it, don't be overcome by its comfort, pleasantness, and allure—but against all of this, how much better the consciousness of conquering it." - Epictetus
Self-control is a difficult thing
It's important to connect the so-called temptation with its actual effects
Once you understand that indulging might actually be worse than resisting, the urge begins to lose its appeal. In this way, self-control becomes a real pleasure, and the temptation becomes the regret
Think before you act
Fix your attention on your intelligence. Let it do its thing
"There is nothing so certain in our fears that's not yet more certain in the fact that most of what we dread comes to nothing." - Seneca
Many of the things that upset us are a product of the imagination, not reality
Life is difficult enough. Let's not make it harder by getting emotional about insignificant matters or digging in for battles we don't actually care about
"It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don't have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn't be hunger or thirst." - Epictetus
Eagerly anticipating some future event, passionately imagining something you desire, looking forward to some happy scenario—as pleasurable as these activities might seem, they ruin your chance at happiness here and now
"This is the true athlete—the person in rigorous training against false impressions. Remain firm, you who suffer, don't be kidnapped by your impressions! The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility." - Epictetus
"Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don't stop it. It hasn't yet come? Don't burn in desire for it, but wait until it arrives in front of you. Act this way with children, a spouse, toward position, with wealth—one day it will make you worthy of a banquet with the gods" - Epictetus
The next time you find yourself getting excited, ready to do anything and everything to get it—the equivalent of reaching across the table and grabbing a dish out of someone's hands—just remind yourself: that's bad manners and unnecessary. Then wait patiently for your turn
We might reflect that we're lucky to have been invited to such a wonderful feast (gratitude). Or that we should take our time and savor the taste of what's on offer (enjoying the present moment) but that to stuff ourselves sick with food and drink serves no one, least of all our health (gluttony is a deadly sin, after all). That at the end of the meal, it's rude not to help the host clean up and do the dishes (selflessness). And finally, the next time, it's our turn to host and treat others just as we had been treated (charity)
Is that really worth it? Is it really that pleasurable? Consider that when you crave something or contemplate indulging in a "harmless" vice
Ceaseless, ardent desire—if not bad in and of itself—is fraught with potential complications. What we desire makes us vulnerable
"It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little." - Diogenes
To want nothing makes one invincible—because nothing lies outside your control
When it comes to your goals and the things you strive for, ask yourself: Am I in control of them or they in control of me?
"Better they not blame my life. I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid." - Plutarch
It's easy to act—to just dive in. It's harder to stop, to pause, to think: No, I'm not sure I need to do that yet. I'm not sure I am ready
"You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all." - Marcus Aurelius
Why bother getting mad at causes and forces far bigger than us? Why do we take these things personally? After all, external events are not sentient beings—they cannot respond to our shouts and cries—and neither can the mostly indifferent gods
Circumstances are incapable of considering or caring for your feelings, your anxiety, or your excitement. They don't care about your reaction. They are not people. So stop acting like getting worked up is having an impact on a given situation. Situations don't care at all
"Keep in mind that it isn't the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it's really your own opinion fueling it. Instead, make it your first response not to be carried away by such impressions, for with time and distance self-mastery is more easily achieved." - Epictetus
Our reaction is what actually decides whether harm has occurred. If we feel that we've been wronged and get angry, of course that's how it will seem
If we retain control of ourselves, we decide whether to label something good or bad
Choose not to apply labels and choose not to react
Eventually, all of us will pass away and slowly be forgotten. We should enjoy this brief time we have on earth—not be enslaved by emotions that make us miserable and dissatisfied
It's easy to fight back. It's tempting to give them a piece of your mind. But you almost always end up with regret. You almost always wish you hadn't sent the letter
"Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain." - Epictetus
Image the power you'd have in your life and relationships if all the things that trouble everyone else—how thin they are, how much money they have, how long they have left to live, how they will die—didn't matter so much. What if, where others were upset, envious, excited, possessive, or greedy, you were objective, calm, and clearheaded?
It's not about avoidance or shunning, but rather not giving any possible outcome more power or preference than is appropriate
"The soul is like a bowl of water, and our impressions are like the ray of light falling upon the water. When the water is troubled, it appears that the light itself is moved too, but it isn't. So, when a person loses their composure it isn't their skills and virtues that are troubled, but the spirit in which they exist, and when that spirit calms down so do those things." - Epictetus
The tools and aims of our training are unaffected by the turbulence of the moment. Stop. Regain your composure. It's waiting for you
Focus. Prioritize. Train your mind to ask: Do I need this thing? What will happen if I do not get it? Can I make do without it?
"An important place to begin in philosophy is this: a clear perception of one's own ruling principle." - Epictetus
One becomes a philosopher when they begin to exercise their guiding reason and start to question the emotions and beliefs and even language that others take for granted
Live a life that is worth living
Cultivate the ability to judge yourself accurately and honestly. Look inward to discern what you're capable of and what it will take to unlock that potential
If we do not focus on our internal integration—on self-awareness—we risk external disintegration
"The person is free who lives as they wish, neither compelled, nor hindered, nor limited—whose choices aren't hampered, whose desires succeed, and who don't fall into what repels them. Who wishes to live in deception—tripped up, mistaken, undisciplined, complaining, in a rut? No one. These are base people who don't live as they wish; as so, no base person is free." - Epicteuts
"No slavery is more disgraceful than one which is self-imposed" - Seneca
Take inventory of your obligations from time to time. How many of these are self-imposed? How many of them are truly necessary? Are you as free as you think?
There is a hidden cost to all that accumulating
Even what we get for free has a cost, if only in what we pay to store it—in our garages and in our minds
"In public avoid talking often and excessively about your accomplishments and dangers, for however much you enjoy recounting your dangers, it's not so pleasant for others to hear about your affairs." - Epictetus
Narrative fallacy: the tendency to assemble unrelated events of the past into stories
Listen and connect with people, don't perform for them
"If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you'd be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?" - Epictetus
We hand our minds over willingly to social media, to television, to what other people are doing, thinking, or saying
We must protect our minds. Maintain control over your mind and perceptions. It's your most prized possessions
"Above all, keep a close watch on this—that you are never so tied to your former acquaintances and friends that you are pulled down to their level. If you don't, you'll be ruined... You must choose whether to be loved by these friends and remain the same person, or to become a better person at the cost of those friends... if you try to have it both ways you will neither make progress nor keep what you once had." - Epictetus
"From good people you'll learn good, but if you mingle with the bad you'll destroy such soul as you had." - Musonius Rufus
"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn
Find your "scene"—a group of peers who push you to be better
"Tell me with whom you consort and I will tell you who you are." - Goethe
Consciously consider whom you allow into your life—like you are trying to cultivate the best life possible
Are they making me better? Do they encourage me to push forward and hold me accountable? Or do they drag me down to their level? Should I spend more or less time with these folks?
"We can remove most sins if we have a witness standing by as we are about to go wrong. The soul should have someone it can respect, by whose example it can make its inner sanctum more inviolable. Happy is the person who can improve others, not only when present, but even when in their thoughts." - Seneca
"The unrestricted person, who has in hand what they will in all events, is free. But anyone who can be restricted, coerced, or pushed into something against what they will is a slave." - Epictetus
"Whenever someone has done wrong by you, immediately consider what notion of good or evil they had in doing it. For when you see that, you'll feel compassion, instead of astonishment or rage. For you may yourself have the same notions of good or evil, or similar ones, in which case you'll make an allowance for what they've done. But if you no longer hold the same notions, you'll be more readily gracious for their error." - Marcus Aurelius
"Nobody does wrong willingly." - Socrates
How much more tolerant and understanding would you be today if you could see the actions of other people as attempts to do the right thing? Whether you agree or not, how radically would this lens change your perspective on otherwise offensive or belligerent actions?
We forget that we're not the only people who matter and that our lose might be someone else's gain
Ego is more than just off-putting and obnoxious. Instead, it's the sworn enemy of our ability to learn and grow
"It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows." - Epictetus
We will be unable to improve, unable to learn, unable to earn the respect of others if we think we're already perfect, a genius admired far and wide
The fact that you can think, the fact that you can read this book, the fact that you are able to reason in and out of situations—all of this is what gives you the ability to improve your circumstances and become better
Take a little time today to remember that you're blessed with the capacity to use logic and reason to navigate situations and circumstances. This gives you unthinkable power to alter your circumstances and the circumstances of others. And remember that with power comes responsibility
"You are not your body and hair style, but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you become." - Epictetus
Do not consider how things appear, but what effort, activity, and choices they are a result of
Someone can't frustrate you, work can't overwhelm you—these are external objects, and they have no access to your mind. Those emotions you feel, as real as they are, come from the inside, not the outside
What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that's on us. We can't blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy. The cause is within us. They're just the target
"For there are two rules to keep at the ready–that there is nothing good or bad outside my own reasoned choice, and that we shouldn't try to lead events but to follow them." - Epictetus
"The cause of my irritation is not in this person but in me." - Anthony de Mello
Remember, each individual has a choice. You are always the one in control. The cause of irritation—or our notion that something is bad—that comes from us, from our labels or our expectations. Just as easily, we can change those labels; we can change our entitlement and decide to accept and love what's happening around us
"I may wish to be free from torture, but if the time comes for me to endure it, I'll wish to bear it courageously with bravery and honor. Wouldn't I prefer not to fall into war? But if war does befall me, I'll wish to carry nobly the wounds, starvation, and other necessities of war. Neither am I so crazy as to desire illness, but if I must suffer illness, I'll wish to do nothing rash or dishonorable. The point is not to wish for these adversities, but for the virtue that makes adversities bearable." - Seneca
"Nowhere can you find a more peaceful and less busy retreat than in your own soul—especially if on close inspection it is filled with ease, which I say is nothing more than being well-ordered. Treat yourself often to this retreat and be renewed." - Marcus Aurelius