You cry, I’m suffering severe pain! Are you then relieved from feeling it, if you bear it in an unmanly way? —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 78.17
Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice. —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.18.21
Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm.
What thrives online is not the writing that reflects anything close to the reality in which you and I live. Nor does it allow for the kind of change that will create the world we wish to live in.
We’ve all done it. Said: I am so [overwhelmed, tired, stressed, busy, blocked, outmatched]. And then what do we do about it? Go out and party. Or treat ourselves. Or sleep in. Or wait. It feels better...
We’re all full of anxieties, doubts, impotence, pains, and sometimes a little tinge of crazy.
We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing. —SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND
We seem to think that silence is a sign of weakness. That being ignored is tantamount to death (and for the ego, this is true). So we talk, talk, talk as though our life depends on it.
We must be sure to act with deliberation, boldness, and persistence. Those are the attributes of right and effective action.
We have only minimal control over the rewards for our work and effort—other people’s validation, recognition, rewards. So what are we going to do? Not be kind, not work hard, not produce, because ther...
We decide what we will make of each and every situation. We decide whether we’ll break or whether we’ll resist. We decide whether we’ll assent or reject. No one can force us to give up or to believe s...
Too many people think that great victories like Grant’s and Edison’s came from a flash of insight. That they cracked the problem with pure genius. In fact, it was the slow pressure, repeated from many...
Today blogs are our representatives in these degradation ceremonies. They level the accusations on the behalf of the outraged public. How dare you hold yourself up in front of us as a human being inst...
To the youngster talking nonsense Zeno said, ‘The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less.’ —DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 7.1.23
Think of the life you have lived until now as over and, as a dead man, see what’s left as a bonus and live it according to Nature. Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what c...
There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means. That
There is clarity (and joy) in seeing what others can’t see, in finding grace and harmony in places others overlook.
There is a balance. Soccer coach Tony Adams expresses it well. Play for the name on the front of the jersey, he says, and they’ll remember the name on the back. When
The ways this separation manifests itself negatively are immense: We can’t work with other people if we’ve put up walls. We can’t improve the world if we don’t understand it or ourselves. We can’t tak...
The question we must ask for ourselves is: Are we going to be miserable just because other people are?