Stoicism Notes

These are just notes I took from The Manual, my favorite stoicism book.

1. Offending: Someone provoking/hurting you is someone reminding you of an opinion you have of yourself that you don’t enjoy
2. Critics: I often wonder how it is that most people value their own lives above others, yet value other’s opinions of them over their self-opinions.
3. Sickness: If you trip and fall, your hands and knees will feel pain. Let them complain if they wish. But you are not injured unless you choose to view your fall as a terrible, unfair, unfortunate event inflicted upon you. Your opinions and interpretations are up to you. You can’t hurt in the past or future, only in the present moment. Limit your pain to that moment and it will be bearable
4. Peace: Anticipate and embrace the beliefs that will disturb you, and you’ll be less disturbed
5. Humans: We’re all human beings. Why hate anyone, flatter anyone, lord over anyone, or bow before anyone?
6. Change: It’s the nature of the universe — all things must change, including you. Embrace it
7. Change: Nature is impartial in doling out pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor, wealth and poverty, life and death. None of these things are good or bad in themselves. So, you should treat them impartially, too — accept them when they come; let go of them when they leave.
8. Endings: You don’t lose things/people, you simply give them back
9. Judging: What is telling is how a person responds to their circumstances
10. Excess: Too much rest — like too much food or drink — defeats its purpose
11. Pain/Pleasure: Pleasure and pain reveal nothing about whether something is ultimately good or bad for you.
12. Death: Dying is one of the acts of life. When your time comes, perform it with the same intention, determination, and dignity you put into all your actions.
13. Beauty: In the wild, we’re terrified by the sight of a lion or wild boar. But if we could see them objectively, we would marvel at the beauty of the lion’s eyebrows, and the foam flowing from the boar’s mouth. Seen in themselves, all of nature’s productions are marvelous. Look at the gaping jaws of wild beasts with the same awe you would reserve for a great sculptor’s work. Observe the wrinkled face of an old woman as you would a fine painting, and you will discover its subtle beauty. See the smooth face of a young woman, too, as a work of nature’s art, and your heart will remain pure. When your eyes become attuned to nature and her works, everything is beautiful.