The Stoics Teachings and Practises

Focus On Things You Can Control, Ignore The Rest

Well Being, Peace And Happiness Through The Pursuit Of Excellence

Who Are The Stoics And What Do They Have To Offer?

[1] Who Are The Stoics?

Approximately 2,500 years ago the Greek philosopher Socrates taught moral philosophy. He is generally regarded as one of the founding fathers of western moral philosophy.

He wrote no books and our knowledge and understanding of his teachings are derived from the oral tradition handed down to his students  - notably Plato -  who composed writings of his teachings after his death. 

Plato taught Aristotle who argued that happiness came from living a life of virtue, and he listed a number of these virtues for example: courage, temperance, wisdom and modesty, etc.

Post Plato, Greek philosophers argued extensively about what constituted virtue and how it was applied in practise and this to a split into four schools of thought which dominated philosophical discussion for over 500 years. The four schools were: Cynics, Skeptics, Epicureans,  and lastly and the point of our focus here, the Stoics.

The 3 Major Stoics

Unsurprisingly very little of what was  written c2,000 years ago survives today. However there are 3 Stoics whose work has survived to a reasonable extent and the lives of these men and their teachings form the foundation of our present understanding of the meaning and practise of these core Stoic teachings.

1. Seneca - the "Letters of Seneca the Younger"  - he was a wealthy Roman Senator who wrote a number of essays and public letters.
2. Epictetus - the "Discourses of Epictetus" - he was a former slave turned Stoic teacher, and some of his teachings were recorded by his student, Arrian.
3. Marcus Aurelius - the "Meditations by Marcus Aurelius" - he was well-regarded Roman emperor who recorded a daily diary/journal which he used as a Stoic exercise to remind himself of his Stoic principles.

In subsequent articles we will look more deeply at each of these.

---

[2] The Stoics Philosophy - What Do They Have To Offer?

Well being, peace and happiness through the pursuit of excellence

Stoicism is a philosophy of life with the goal of spiritual well-being.

In practical terms this means adopting practises of thought and behaviour that ease your sufferings and enable you to become the best  you can be.

Understanding The Fuller Meaning Of Key, Root Greek Words

As a quick "technical note" here, to get a clear understanding of the intended meaning behind some of the key words and phrases used  in the teachings of the Stoics [and any other teachings such as the Christian New Testament] where the original written language was obviously Greek, it is particularly helpful to take a close look at the literal meaning of the original Greek root words.

In common with the the other schools of philosophy in ancient Greece, the stoics had one common goal called "eudaimonia" which in Greek literally means “having a good spirit”, and also be translated as "well-being" or “thriving”.

The Stoics focused on the pursuit of "virtue" as the necessary and sufficient means to experiencing well being, peace and happiness.

The Greek word for "virtue" is "arete", which means “excellence”.

3 Good Reasons For The Pursuit Of Excellence [Virtue]

The Stoics concentrated on the the pursuit of excellence for three reasons:

1. Being an "excellent person" enables you to exercise the wisdom and skill needed to maximise the benefit that you and others derive from the opportunities and "luck" you get in life.
2. Being an "excellent person" is completely under your control. You can change your thoughts, habits and behaviours, with practise, and become a better and more effective person.
3. Being an "excellent person" is always the most resourceful way to behave and ultimately the exercising of virtue/excellence is its own reward. In short, it is the best and most fulfilling way to live.
   

The foundation of the Stoic beliefs

• Rationality: We have the ability to reason and we can use reason to understand the world, to meet the challenges we face, and to make our lives better.
• Virtue/Excellence: Stoics believed in rationality as the vehicle to excellence, and therefore, happiness.
  
• Non-emotionalism: Stoics saw emotions as potential distractions from the pursuit of goals and that decisions should be based as much as possible on facts.

The purpose of Stoic beliefs

Stoic beliefs are practised-based and their strength lies in the regular and consistent application of these beliefs in daily life, and they offer a way to:

• Think about how to live and whether what you want will actually help or hinder your happiness.
• Understand what goals to set and pursue in order to help you live your best life.

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” [Seneca]

---

Interest In The Stoics

Certainly, many of history’s great minds not only understood Stoicism for what it truly is, they sought it out: George Washington, Walt Whitman, Frederick the Great, Eugène Delacroix, Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Jefferson, Matthew Arnold, Ambrose Bierce, Theodore Roosevelt, William Alexander Percy, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Each read, studied, quoted, or admired the Stoics.

Growing Modern Interest In The Stoics

Over the past 10 years the Stoics have experienced a minor renaissance partly due to popular writers, bloggers, podcasters and thought-leaders such as Ryan Holiday, William Irvine, Shane Parrish,  Tim Ferriss and academics such as Massimo Pigliucci who is featured on this site and offers extensive resources and materials.

There are also a number of popular websites on the Stoics, each offering a wide range of practical material:

The Stoic Fellowship

The Daily Stoic

Modern Stoicism

In common with mindfulness, the Stoics teachings and practises have started to enter the mainstream and feature in the worlds of business, finance and technology and is increasingly quoted in business articles, journals and book.

---

Highlights of Stoic Teachings and Insights

1. Focus on things you can control, ignore the rest.

The Stoics referred to this as "the dichotomy of control".

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…” [Epictetus]

---

2. Accept pain and don’t chase pleasure

The Stoics grasped the paradox of acceptance, that accepting pain rather than struggling against it often makes it more bearable. 

The practice of deep acceptance is also a mindfulness technique and one that I have used many times. 

---

3. A good life is a virtuous life.

A life well lived is a virtuous life. The Stoics focused on 4 qualities:

---

4. Memento Mori - Remember That You Must Die

The Stoics saw great value in the  practice they called "Memento Mori" which translates as “Remember that you will die.

---

How To Practise The Stoics Teachings?

Free download PDF, compiled by Massimo Pigliucci and Greg Lopez:

24 Stoic Spiritual Exercises

Compiled by Shane Parrish of Farnham Street:

The Stoic Reading List [Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus and More]

---

How Do The Stoics Align With The Themes Of This Site?

The purpose of this site is to show you how to cope in tough times, and to provide you with the tools to do this successfully.

The teachings, quotations, reflections and observations of the Stoics are especially relevant as at time of writing in early 2021 the world slowly emerges from post Covid-19 lockdown and starts to come to terms with the societal, economic and financial consequences.

The Stoics provide us with a number of helpful practices which can help you to improve the quality of your thinking skills, and this in turn will help you achieve better responses, and thus better outcomes, to the events in your life.

[1] Key themes that align with the objectives of this site:

[3] Pulling it all together

The Stoics offer us some powerful beliefs and practises. Whilst much of this has stood the test of time and is still relevant now nevertheless we have to accept that it is a reflection of an ancient Greek world view.

When weighing and consider new beliefs I always like to remind myself:

1. No belief tradition of any persuasion has a monopoly on the truth.

2. To consider the advice of the Buddha on how to handle beliefs:
 

A belief, is presented as a guidance whereas as, conventionally, a belief is regarded as an immutable certainty.

A belief should be tested against personal experience.


Beliefs, are there to serve a purpose and to be released when that purpose is served.

---

Further Resources

Here are a number of touch points with other key articles on this site:

---

Return to: Home Page