Stoicism: find serenity and strength in a difficult world

The School Of Life

ISBN 10: 1915087805 ISBN 13: 9781915087805

Publisher: The School of Life Press, 2023

Synopsis

We still pay homage to one of the most relevant philosophies ever devised when we call someone ‘stoic’ for the way they handle the challenges in their lives with resilience and calm. Originating in Greece around 300 BCE, Stoicism was for many centuries the most popular philosophy in the Western world, teaching people practical advice on how they could flourish in uncertain times and overcome their anxieties.

This box of cards gathers together the best insights and sayings from the great Stoic thinkers and marries them up with commentaries that bring out their applicability to our own lives. This is both an elegant summary of an ancient philosophy and a route to self-knowledge, serenity and strength of mind.

About this title

About the Author

The School of Life is a global organisation helping people to lead more fulfilled lives. We do this via our articles, books, app, films, therapeutic services and corporate offering.

The School of Life Press brings together the thinking and ideas of the School of Life creative team under the direction of series editor, Alain de Botton. Our range of books and products explore essential topics in psychological and emotional life, including relationships, parenting, friendship, careers and fulfilment.

From the Back Cover

“If you have the will to conquer anger, it cannot conquer you.”―Seneca

Originating in Greece around 300 BCE, Stoicism was for many centuries the most popular philosophy in the Western world, teaching people practical advice on how they could flourish in uncertain times and overcome their anxieties. This box of cards gathers together the best insights and sayings from the great Stoic thinkers and marries them up with commentaries that bring out their applicability to our own lives.

This is both an elegant summary of ancient philosophy and a route to self-knowledge, serenity and strength of mind.

How to Use the Cards These cards are designed to introduce us to the philosophy of Stoicism and its relevance to our day to day lives. On one side, we find quotations from its leading proponents: among them, the ex-slave Epictetus, the politician and dramatist Seneca, and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. On the reverse, we learn more about the history, beliefs, and practice of Stoicism from its origins to the present day. They can either be read individually or as a continuous essay. Once contemplated, the cards can then be kept or displayed somewhere close at hand as a continual reminder of stoic wisdom.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Example cards:

“Do you really want to know what philosophy offers humanity? Philosophy offers wisdom.” – Marcus AureliusThe Stoics saw philosophy rather differently from how the discipline is conceived today. For them, it wasn’t merely an intellectual framework or a dispassionate collection of ideas, but a whole way of life (askêsis), something closer to what we would now think of as a religion, yet without the superstition: a guide to how one should think, act and behave. Stoicism wasn’t meant to be confined to the classroom, it was to be put to use during the most challenging moments of our lives. Montaigne, a profound follower of the Stoics, neatly summarised the scale of the Stoic ambition: “To philosophise is to learn to die.” 

“Friendship is always helpful, yet too often love causes harm.” – SenecaThe Stoics far preferred friendship to romantic love, for they felt that it is in friendship that we properly honour the ambitions that our societies falsely associate with relationships. With our friends, we can be calm, non-possessive, reasonable, generous and empathetic; in other words, properly kind and giving, whereas love finds us agitated, frequently mean and too often self-righteous. Being asked to be someone’s friend should be deemed the greatest honour; by contrast, an invitation to be someone’s lover should be – given what too often happens in couples – a mere consolation prize.

Edition details

• Publisher: The School of Life Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1915087805
• ISBN 13: 9781915087805
• Binding: Cards
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 53