app
Stoic
Evidence
Citations (100)
Day One is amazing for journaling. Also try the Stoic app for daily philosophical reflections.
The New Agora: Daily WWYD and light discussion thread — Welcome to the New Agora, a place for you and others to have casual conversations, seek advice and [first aid](https://modernstoicism.com/two-types-of-stoic-therapy-by-john-sellars/), and hang out tog…
Why do I get upset when bad stuff happens to my partner and it doesn't even impact me? — I'm struggling to understand my pretty intense reactions to certain things. I don't know if attachment theory can help explain this part of my brain. For context: Me (38 F) and partner (44 M) have b…
How come everyone has a different view of what stoicism truly is? — Been lurking this sub for a while and I’ve noticed nearly every question has multiple people giving answers as to what stoicism “truly” is, or is in actuality/practice, but Ive also noticed a lot of t…
Seneca Letters Translation — What translation for Seneca's Letters from a Stoic would you recommend? I know penguin classics can be a little difficult sometimes. Is there a modern translation that is easier to read? Or do you guy…
When is emotional control actually suppression? — In reading Epictetus and Seneca, I’ve been reflecting on how Stoicism distinguishes between emotional mastery and mere suppression. the texts emphasize that destructive emotions, anger, fear, resentm…
True kindness is displayed under circumstances where being unkind would have been justified. — I am currently reading Marcus Aurilleus' *Meditations* as my first Stoic book. > When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, …
Getting rid of nihilism/pessimism — I (24M) am a pessimistic person, it is a really bad thing and i'm struggling to get rid of this thing. A lot of things happened these last years that chopped my illusions about life, such as losing my…
How did you get into Stoicism and how long did it take you to live like one? — To those of you that are able to comment, I’d like to know how long did it take you to feel like you’re living the life of a Stoic (as much as you can in these times)? And by that I mean, on the insi…
Questions on Seneca's Letters — Hey everyone, I am working my way through Seneca's letters to Lucilius. The translation I have is by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long. I am a bit confused by what Seneca's views on feeling emotions ar…
How do I get over this desperation ? — I am a 24 year old student for a professional course which requires me to stay at home and study for it as there is no college or an institution for its qualification. One thing which overwhelms me is…
The "Manosphere" — Last night my wife and I watched the new Netflix documentary on the Manosphere. It was entertaining and informative, but also quite sad. My first reaction, honestly, was that with the exception of th…
Drifting away from stoicsm — Stoicsms changed my life, but now a days I find myself not connecting as much with the lessons and forgetting them even though they helped me lots in the past. I'm and avid student; I do flashcards an…
Epictetus on character — I am fairly familiar with both Marcus Aurelius and Seneca by now. Just getting started with Epictetus and have been mulling this one over today: "Externals are the means by which our character finds …
How to become a stoic when dealing with toxic family — I don't want this to be another emotional rant but basically, I'm done, depressed and ruined by my father's behavior and I want to stop feeling anything towards him and the things he says to me. My me…
Don’t you fear being too isolated? — I recently got rejected by a girl that I really liked. We started off as very good friends and unfortunately I caught feelings for her. So right now, I’m grieving the fact that I lost a really close f…
Hard times. — Hello team Stoic, hope you guys are having a nice, peaceful day! Currently, I am, after a bit more than half year, on one more crossroad of my life. Last year I went through getting fired, moving c…
Using Stoic learnings to get back on track — What Should I do? I’m a 17-year-old student in Turkey preparing for the YKS exam—the exam that will decide which university and major I get into, so it carries a lot of weight for me. I’ve always be…
Coping with anxiety — Hi! I am a 26 yo doctor who is about to give a presentation on Sunday at a medical conference. Last few years (out of the blue, I didn’t struggle with this before the age of 21-22) I developed some s…
Farewell — In the last two years, I have posted to this group a few times. Last year, I posted ([“Here’s the thing: you’re dying, too.”](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/1ifz1cr/heres_the_thing_youre_…
How does a rational universe produce people who are irrational? — I’m sure this is something the stoics would have thought about. Just not something I’ve heard explained. If the universe is rational, and the people within it are part of the universe, how is it tha…
Stoic Polytheism — Hello Friends! I have a question regarding the theology of the Classical Stoics. Did they hold a mere pantheism, with 'the Gods' merely being different names of one and the same Logos? Or, are they as…
What if you’re the impression? — I posted here a while back asking whether the process of examining impressions ever gets in its own way. Whether progress looks like faster processing or less need to process at all. The responses hel…
People who started studying stoicism as teens or young adults, how has your perception changed overtime? — 18 year old this side, I just put down *A Guide to the Good Life* and I am now wondering how much of how I look at the philosophy and life as a whole will change overtime. I feel, one of the biggest…
Setting boundaries in Stoicism. — Let's say that you have a working colleague who is your superior and she makes a lot of remarks about your work, working qualities, ethics etc., most of which are not true and you know it. Not be inf…
"Why I am a Stoic" (collection of excerpts/essays by Seneca) — Recently got this Penguin title (2025, ISBN 978-0-241-74689-9) which appears to be a selection from "Letters from a Stoic" also by Penguin, trans. by Robin Campbell. Wanted to post an image of the con…
I need advice — Stoic heroes, I could really use your advice. I’m naturally an overthinker and tend to worry a lot—which is what led me to Stoicism in the first place. I’ve been working at my current company for ab…
Stoicism and advice regarding isolation? — Because of life situations outside of my control, I have dealt with a lot of grief and pain regarding all relationships. I am essentially alone and after the grief and pain of betrayal and abandonment…
I meditated for 10 years. Here is how life changed — This is a personal anecdote of daily (99.5%) meditation practice spanning 10 years. I hope this will be helpful for those looking for motivation for their practice. Personally, I found external motiva…
What does Marcus Aurelius mean by “misfortune” and “good fortune” in Meditations 4.49? — I’m having trouble understanding what Marcus Aurelius means by “good fortune”/"good luck" and "bad luck"/“misfortune” in *Meditations* 4.49. From Robin Waterfield translation: >Be like a headland: th…
I wanted to discuss letters 3 to 5 of Moral Letters. — I just finished letters 3 to 5 of Letters From a Stoic by Seneca. I wanted to summarise what I got from them, and talk with y'all about the parts I didn’t fully understand. If I misrepresented or mis…
"Men Can't Be Men Anymore" — A week ago, I [posted about the Louis Theroux documentary on the “Manosphere,”](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/1rtveyg/the_manosphere/) noting my surprise at the scale of the phenomenon, u…
Fake stoics? — At the end of a huge meltdown, this guy proceeds to angrily shout "read about stoicism!!!" at me, after starting a fight from thin air and clearly not practicing stoicism at all in that moment or in h…
How do I deal with a non-virtuous past that led to a good and comfortable present? — Hello everyone, In the past months I have been studying Stoicism (I have read the Discourses, Meditations, and now I’m on my way through the Seneca letters). I, however, wanted to have an opinion on s…
Anyone else struggles to understand basic social skills, but can fake being socially adjusted? — I’ve thought myself to mimic pro-social behavior in most cases. However, I offten come across robotic and fake because I’ve learned to imitate social behaviors but not fully understand them because …
Realizing there is caretaker codependency happening in my relationship — My own journey with codependency has been a lot. My previous relationships were abusive. I’ve been in intense talk and EMDR therapy for a very long time and made lots of progress, but it feels as thou…
How do I not let regrets hold me back? — I have very deep regrets, im 18, and need to move on forward with college, probably having less time to do my hobbies/develop my skills. I took the free time I had as a teenager for granted, and I jus…
Stoic Quotes to help Soldier in need — One of my best friends is currently in United States Army Ranger School which is an incredibly brutal task which pushes people to their limits. During ranger school they are completely shut off from t…
Is it inevitable that one arrives at stoicism with non-virtuous intent? — Not to get religious. But I remember reading a sermon years ago - CH Spurgeon I think - where he was describing true and false faith. He described that there would be a genuine love for Christ himself…
What’s your “pocket Stoic” book? — Do you have a particular piece on stoicism that you always carry with you? If so, what's your go-to?
My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 duodenum cancer today. — I am 23. Dad is 53. Just 2 weeks back everything in our lives was so great. Just 2 weeks back, he had told me he plans to live another 50 years. Just 3 weeks back, My sister had said "Thank God for ho…
Navigating ego, experience, and opportunity in the music industry (Stoic advice needed) — I don’t know if this is the right place to ask this but here we go! I work in the music industry and recently I’ve started getting some real opportunities, like working with more established artists.…
How to handle this stoically? — Hi everyone. I've been reading books about Stoicism for a couple of years now, plus, more importantly, I've read Marcus, Epictetus, and a decent chunk of Seneca. I feel like I've taken in a fair bit a…
What would the stoic advice be to a homeless person? — Suppose they are making steps to get out of the situation, but in the meantime they must deal with the predicament. My understanding is that stoicism encourages self sufficiency. Is it wrong for some…
[Partner] Wife’s suppressed severe trauma surfaced. She’s in extreme ‘flight’ mode, refusing therapy, and I am burning out. Need honest outlooks. — \*\*Added some new context at the end Hi everyone. I’m hoping to find some perspective, hard truths, or shared experiences from those who have navigated severe PTSD/CPTSD dynamics. I am completely e…
How to handle envy? — I am new to stoicism and maybe do not understand it completely so apologies in advance! Recently I cant help but been feeling jealous of another person who is dating a woman i liked. Initially I rea…
Schopenhauer's cessation of striving and Marcus Aurelius's cognitive clearing: is there a Stoic equivalent of deliberate emptying before decision-making? — Schopenhauer argues that the continuous striving of the individual will produces only horizontal progress, and that the complete cessation of that striving opens a qualitatively different kind of perc…
Question of virtue ethics: Proper Ambition, the golden mean between ambition and unambitiousness. — I like to identify through my actions as a stoic, and recently read an interesting quote that I would like to provide in hopes of assessing the opinions of like-minded people. I'm not sure who origina…
Stoic reflection. Happiness isn't about getting what you want, but wanting what you have. — I’ve been reflecting lately on how much of our suffering comes from chasing external validation, the dream of being loved, admired, or deemed normal by society. We often treat happiness like a trophy …
Lifelong social comparison — Hi everyone, I’ve struggled with comparing myself to others my entire life. Whether it’s academics, fitness, or career, I constantly feel "behind" everyone else. Even my own achievements feel hollow b…
The fatalistic overcorrection of the dichotomy of control. — I wrote part of the body of this post as a comment in another thread, but I see these comments very often anyway so I thought (voluntarily) that I would give a general objection to them here. The g…
Same, avoidants are often stoic on the outside
Honestly, yours is the best comment here. Online pop psychology has REALLY distorted what secure attachment is. To some, it’s some sort of stoic perfection where your actions must always match their i…
I have just learned about attachment Theory and believe my partner is avoidant( not sure if da or fa as still a bit confusing to me) I felt like my avoidant partner was putting me through test. At the…
He was amazing, thoughtful, and genuine… until he vanished (I think?). Help me stay zen while I wait. --- So… I (35F) matched with this guy (43M) mid-July, and honestly, he’s been kind of wonderful.…
These are my personal experiences from FAs: bad texter, late replies, hard time describing themselves and their emotions, past history of relationships (or none), problems with parents, retreat in soc…
It isn’t necessarily, but to an anxious person who was raised with intermittent neglect and is hyper vigilant about it, it will look like it. But like I said, it could be there’s truth to it as well…
I agree with you there and I thought the same thing when I read her post. The only reason I thought that though is because my current partner has done similar things, almost being thoughtless or not c…
Keep in mind that my answer in not necessarily informed by Stoic teachings. Doing a bit of exercise regularly is way better than doing nothing. For example get up each and every day and do ten push …
>*In order to move on, you need to not only stop feeling sorry for yourself,* *but also stop feeling sorry for the world.* *That is forgiveness in its essence.* *To give up a certain lens to see…
Greetings, I've published a new article one he role that play, games, and hobbies have in Stoicism: https://mimeticvirtue.substack.com/p/fun-and-games
I just wanted to share that I'm now a Fellow at the College of Stoic Philosophers after having completed the Marcus Aurelius Program! I was also invited to take the practicum to become a member of fac…
> The sub doesn't let me post That's weird. There are auto-rules that limit TOP-LEVEL comments for posts tagged as "Seeking Personal Stoic Guidance". You have to be tagged as a "Contributor". I do…
What is the stoic view on killing a mosquito?
Lately I’ve been stuck in a pretty negative mindset stressed, frustrated, and not thinking clearly. I went back to Stoic journaling to get some stability, but most apps felt too busy or gamified. So I…
A tool for "Digital Hypomnemata" I’ve been practicing Stoicism for a few years, but my biggest struggle has always been the gap between reading The Enchiridion in the morning and actually applying it…
Greetings, I've published a new article on aesthetics and it's relevance for virtue, and therefore Stoicism: https://mimeticvirtue.substack.com/p/the-aesthetic-compulsion
I don't have the answer, but I have read (and know from my own experience) that anxious preoccupied are attracted to the steady stoicism of the avoidant, and they in turn are attracted to the big hear…
I've been applying Stoic principles to my own dilemmas and found it really helpful, especially getting Marcus Aurelius's perspective on modern situations. I built a tool to formalise this process, bu…
The number one email I get from readers and listeners is "can I get advice from you about my personal situation" -- I'm not a therapist so I say no to a lot of these requests; almost all of hem. A fe…
Hey everyone👋 Over the last few years I've struggled with identity, motivation, feelings of failure. I've come back to Stoicism as a way to ground me, help me be more rooted in whats important to me…
The issue with avoidant attachment is that we can only heal from it if we do exactly what we don’t want to do: learn to sit with the uncomfortable feelings that come with intimacy, opening up and actu…
Folks, tomorrow (Saturday 10 AM EST) I'll be doing a live zoom talk in the Conversations with Modern Stoicism series, and would love to see some of this community there. Here's the [link](https://luma…
Been studying Stoicism for a while and wanted a way to "consult" Marcus Aurelius when working through difficult situations. So I trained a chatbot exclusively on Meditations (Hays translation) plus so…
Posted a short summary of my book *A Stoic Resurection* ([I introduced it in another comment down below](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/1obp2fx/comment/noljs2g/?utm_source=share&utm_medium…
Greetings, I've published a new article on how passions differ from being moved to action by reason and virtue, as well as situating emotions within Stoic theory: https://mimeticvirtue.substack.com/p/…
Sunday Stoic - Greetings, I am cohost of the “Sunday Stoic” podcast, a weekly podcast that concentrates on applying Stoicism to modern life. Our most recent episode examines the Cardinal Virtue of Ju…
I didn’t expect any affection on the first date. It was more what came out in conversation and how she’s kind of stoic in terms of chatting. She doesn’t seem very flirty/playful and she said she’s gen…
Hi everyone, I started a newsletter about panic attacks in the hope of helping people who are going through something similar to what I went through years ago. I no longer experience panic attacks my…
Greetings, I've published a new article on "fun", situating fun within Stoicism and discussing how Stoics should orient themselves regarding fun: https://mimeticvirtue.substack.com/p/on-fun
And that’s what would be unacceptable to me. Here’s the thing: you’re not crazy. People *do* settle for good on paper, and it’s especially easy for men to do it when they’re with women who bend over b…
Precisely! It was a part of a book on Stoicism that I’m listening to on Audible. It’s been helpful to internalize that and practice everyday when im finding myself browsing the socials.
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Very good stuff in there. Couldn’t recommend enough
Hi, welcome to the subreddit. Please make sure that you check out [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/guide), where you will find answers for many common questions, like ["What is Stoicis…
Stoicism is a practice not a set of rules/behaviors. Action in themselves diverge, it's the overall behavior that accompany the actions that matter. Besides, literally every philosophy/religion is li…
There’s just a lot of misinformation, either from ignorance or a disregard to truth. Stoicism is a virtue ethics philosophy that holds that virtue is the supreme good, so we should align our will (or …
If you understood Tradition Stoicism, you wouldn’t have to ask. Dig deeper and keep reading from the original texts.
There are several reasons: 1. The original sources are extremely incomplete. We have *none* of the major foundational works in full, and instead rely entirely on second hand (often highly abbreviated…
To expand on this, consider how many kinds of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism there are. There's no determinant of orthodoxy in Stoicism. I will gently disagree about Stoicism being only a…
Hi, welcome to the subreddit. Please make sure that you check out [the FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/wiki/guide), where you will find answers for many common questions, like ["What is Stoicis…
A few of thoughts First, the original Stoics were writing and debating their theories over 2,000 years ago. Due to the vagueries of translation and the vastness of time between them and us, there are…
Yes. As you say there are different aspects to Stoicism, which will lead to different types. There is a rugged Stoics who experience the ills of the world and march on relentlessly with acceptance. …
Seneca's Epistle 1: A "Historical Restoration" for Modern Practitioners (Lodge/Gummere Synthesis) **The Content:** I hear you on the translations, u/Fragrant-Point-4328. I've been working on a rest…
This sub is Stoicism, a philosophy of life which tells us to mind what is ours and not to mind what is not ours. We are not in control of what others do, and worrying about what others might do is a …
We’ve lost the original texts of the founders of the school, so unlike Plato who survives complete or Aristotle who we have a decent chunk of, we have to rely on later Stoics, who are adapting the ear…
Op, you are awesome for this but i have a question: 1. Certain personality disorders by their actions inflict hurt or harm to others: Anti Social and to an extent NPD. When the result of the action i…
Besides the part where people would want to have more of the ancient texts, I think the reason is that the way Stoicism was interpreted by scholars took a turn where the classical interpretation that …
You can’t control your emotions. The Stoics were quite deterministic, and they argue that there’s only one thing in your power (notice how they wouldn’t use the word control), and that thing is your…
> virtue consists in correcting these judgments rather than simply controlling the outward behavior. This is not correct. Virtue consists in having the disposition of your soul/mind (also understood …
The divergence in perspectives on Stoicism is a result of a massive data gap between the original ancient hardware and the modern cultural software. The term has been hijacked by a contemporary "movie…