Guides to Stoicism

The ideas and practices of Stoicism, explained plainly and grounded in what the Stoics actually wrote. Every quote links to its source.

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What Stoicism is and where it came from.

  1. 1What is Stoicism?What the Stoics believed, where the philosophy came from, and why people still practise it two thousand years later.4 min
  2. 2A short history of the StoicsFive centuries of Stoics, from Zeno’s colonnade in Athens to a Roman emperor’s private notebook.4 min

Core ideas

The handful of ideas the rest of the philosophy is built on.

  1. 3The dichotomy of controlThe idea everything else rests on: separate what is up to you from what is not.5 min
  2. 4The four virtuesWisdom, justice, courage and moderation, and why the Stoics called them the only true goods.4 min
  3. 5Eudaimonia and tranquillityThe happiness the Stoics promised, and why they looked for it in character rather than luck.4 min
  4. 6The emotionsNot suppression: where feelings come from, and how to change the ones that harm you.4 min
  5. 7Amor fatiWishing for things to happen as they do: what “love of fate” means, and what it doesn’t.4 min
  6. 8Memento moriRemembering death, not to be morbid but to stop wasting time and fearing the wrong things.4 min

Practices

What the Stoics did, day to day, to live by those ideas.

  1. 9Stoic exercisesNine daily practices from the Stoics themselves, from the morning preparation to the evening review.7 min
  2. 10ResilienceThe Stoics trained for a hard life instead of hoping for an easy one. How they went about it.4 min

Stoicism today

How it holds up against modern psychology and modern life.

  1. 11Stoicism and modern therapyCBT was built on a Stoic idea. What the two share, where they differ, and what the research says.4 min
  2. 12Stoicism in modern lifeStoic advice for work, distraction, other people’s opinions and difficult relatives.5 min