"How much longer will you delay before you think yourself worthy of what is best, and transgress in nothing the distinctions that reason imposes?”—Epictetus, E51.1

Reason/Logos/God presents to you things that are distinct. What are the only things presented to you?—Rational impressions / thoughts. Logos presents to you distinct kinds of thoughts. 

What is the distinction with regard to thoughts?—Some are kataleptic/true, others are akataleptic/false. You need to recognize that distinction and never transgress it. That's what is best for you. You need to recognize a true thought and assent to it. You also need to recognize a false thought and withhold assent to it. 

Now, you may ask: “Why does Logos sometimes give me false thoughts?” Well, imagine only being given true thoughts. You would have no choice but to automatically assent to all. You would be an automaton, like nonhuman animals. False thoughts are given to you so that you have a choice. Choice is freedom.

"to have a mind just is to have rational impressions [...] To define logikē phantasia as an impression whose content can be expressed in words is to get to the very heart of the human mind: we are above all the language animal, and lekta are the currency of agency, knowledge, and rationality.”—Vanessa de Harven, Rational Impressions and the Stoic Philosophy of Mind

And yet, rational impressions are not up to you, they lie outside your sphere of choice. ‘Your’ thoughts are not yours, not generated by prohairesis/you. Rational impressions are externals, providential indifferents. Logikē phantasiai are presented to you by Logos. Some of them are true thoughts, gifts for knowledge. Others are untrue thoughts, gifts for freedom. No false thoughts, no freedom. Logos is benevolent/providential.

Within Stoic determinism you only have one freedom, from compulsion: you never have to assent to anything.

“Pay careful attention, then, to your impressions; watch over them unceasingly. For it is not something of little importance that you’re trying to preserve, but self-respect, fidelity, impassibility, freedom from distress, fear, and anxiety, and, in a word, freedom.” Epictetus, D4.3.7

“What sort of thing do you imagine the good to be? Serenity, happiness, freedom from constraint. […] can anyone constrain you to give assent to what seems to you to be false?—‘No one can.’—Or not to give assent to what seems to you to be true?—‘No one can.’—Here, man, you can see that you have something in you that is free by nature.” Epictetus, D3.22.39-42

As humans, we are cognitive beings, our modus operandi is reflecting perceptions by rationally arranging concepts. Thoughts are presented to you, like "It would be good to eat that cupcake." You have the capacity to choose between two options: to assent or not to assent to that thought. Nothing can force you to assent. Nothing can force you not to assent. Nothing can prevent you from assenting. Nothing can prevent you from not assenting. That's freedom.

The pourpose of akataleptic impressions are is to ensure your freedom from compulsion. If all impressions were kataleptic, they would all compel assent, so there would be no freedom to choose. Akataleptic impressions are there for the purpose of freedom, they are gifts for freedom.

I love the quote but can't seem to find a direct source of who first used it.

If I recall correctly, a tenet of stoicism is to not fret over things that are out of your control. But democracy throws a wrench in that, because it's both in your control and out of your control. It's in your control in terms of your vote does contribute to the end result, but it's out of your control because unless it a vote of one, other people can vote and you don't control them. So how does a proper Stoic handle democracy?

I applied for a job last week and I cannot stop thinking about it. I just want to be updated on whether my application went well.

I’m 19 years old and I’m in community college so I don’t meet too many people. I start my new job tomorrow and I’ve also struggled with anxiety. I got medicated since I graduated HS and I started worshipping God 24/7. I have a best friend who was the same as me in high school. Both awkward lossless virgins. I have always been the more confident one. But recently he met a girl and they began to hang out. He lost his virginity to her and I didn’t care too much. I’ve always just wondered why others could get someone but not me. I’m attractive too btw. Well a couple days ago I was scrolling through instagram and I saw he was at a party and I’ve never been to one and neither did he until the party I saw he was at on instagram. I was so jealous that he lost his v card and started going to parties without me. I’m going to a university in the spring and I’m majoring in philosophy what things can I work on. I’ve read a couple of stoic books but I still get jealous at times.

If you are unfamiliar with this critique, the stoic emerges from slavery. An individual is forced against their will to produce labor for someone else, they struggle to find any sense of identity or meaning in life since all they create with their own hands gets consumed by someone else. A way for the slave to reclaim their identity is simply to negate the objects in their environment, and to claim that their minds are free and separate from everything in their world, including the pains of slavery. While they continue to work for someone else, their minds are free. The critique is that this is the vaguest form of identity and it only emerges from a negation. Eventually the individual must find things in their environment and their own soul that are positive affirmations of who they are if they wish to unite the particular (identity) with the universal (spirit)

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“So, for instance, the distress I feel in learning that I have heart disease involves my mind’s assent to the proposition that illness is both present and something bad – where ‘bad’ carries the eudaimonist connotation of being deleterious to my happiness (Cooper 1999b). This thought is false, of course: disease is dis-preferred, but not bad, and its presence makes no difference to my happiness. My case of distress, then, involves a cognitive failure, according to the Stoics: in suffering this passion, I have incorrectly evaluated illness and misjudged its connection to my own personal flourishing. As part of my distress, I may also experience anxious internal constricting and start to weep, as a result of my mind’s assessment that such actions are appropriate responses to my present illness (element (ii) above). On the Stoic view, this assessment is also false, for these are not objectively appropriate reactions to the presence of something bad (cf. the more complicated Alcibiades case, discussed by Graver 2007, ch. 9).”

•	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Reading this really does it for me. I’m so done. I’ve been told over and over again that being a Stoic does not require one to be unfeeling, uncaring, or sociopathic, but the more I read about the philosophy, the more I feel confident that the negative things I’ve heard about Stoicism are true.

I struggle heavily with depression, anxiety, OCD, suicidal ideation, and trauma from my past. Whenever I am experiencing a difficult emotion, whether it be sadness, anger, jealousy, I want to feel through it, understand it, process it, learn from it. This is in contrast to the view of the Stoics, which states that those emotions are merely troublesome passions which one should aim to eliminate.

I couldn’t disagree with them more. While those feelings are definitely burdensome, I believe they have their worth; they can even serve us if we interact with them in a wise manner.

Sadness is painful, but it is also beautiful; it helps me to understand myself better, reconnect with the things and people I’ve lost, and heal and grow as a person.

Anger can be problematic if it leads to wrath, but if managed in a healthy manner in can also be ordered towards righteous purposes. In my opinion, feeling frustrated or angered by injustices in the world is not a bad thing – if anything, it’s a sign of a good moral compass. What matters is what we choose to DO with that anger and how we let it affect us.

Anxiety and fear can ruin us if they are left unmanaged, but if they are kept in check they can also be experienced in a healthy manner. Fear can show us where the edge is, anxiety can show us threats in our vicinity. The natural purpose of these emotions is literally to protect us.

In my opinion, feeling and indulging these emotions is not the problem. The problem arises when these emotions cause us to behave immorally. We mustn’t let feelings of anger lead to wrath, feelings of sadness to defeat, feelings of envy to ungratefulness or resentment.

Like, the quote at the top of this post is really what gets me. It’s basically saying that experiencing a possibly life-threatening illness cannot be considered bad, but feeling scared and crying about it is bad. That’s literally sounds like something a sociopath would say.

What about the people who have suffered through abuse, neglect, sexual assault? Are they just supposed to tell themselves “the things that happened to me are not bad, I’m bad for feeling bad about them. I am hurt the moment I believe myself to be. It is not things that upset us, but our perceptions of those things”?

I’m getting so tired of this philosophy and I just want to give up. I saw one person refer to it as “Buddhism without the compassion”, and that statement really resonates with me.

It’s even affecting my relationships with family, friends, peers, etc. at this point. Whenever someone expresses feelings of sadness, frustration, embarrassment, anxiety, etc., my brain tells me “They’re acting un-Stoic” or “Their suffering is self-imposed” or “They are bringing this upon themselves with irrational judgements”.

I can’t even handle listening to music or watching television. How can I enjoy melancholic music if I’m not allowed to feel sad? How can I enjoy scary movies if I’m not allowed to feel distress or fear? I also worry that the singers in the songs are being un-Stoic by writing about all the difficult emotions they are facing. Songs about feeling hurt or sad, I can’t handle those because Stoics aren’t supposed to complain or indulge sadness.

This is plaguing me every day. It’s all I think about. I’m in so much pain.

leading up to this election it’s been a mental

Ride, made more manageable by practicing stoicism and now America has provided another opportunity for growth. As much as I know the stoic way it’s always helpful to read the word and absorb the message. Let come what may. Some stuff I’m telling myself as I go into this world:

1. Focusing on What I Can Control: The Stoic idea of separating what we can control from what we can’t is key. We can vote, engage in healthy discussion, and educate ourselves on the issues—but we can’t control how others vote or the outcome itself. Practicing this distinction can help keep us grounded. 2. Accepting Uncertainty: Elections often bring uncertainty about the future, and this can create anxiety. Stoics remind us that our response to uncertainty is a choice. Embracing the unknown as an inevitable part of life can help us stay centered and calm, regardless of the outcome. 3. Maintaining Inner Calm: Stoicism teaches us to keep our composure even in challenging situations. Rather than reacting with anger, frustration, or fear, we can aim to respond thoughtfully. A Stoic approach can be to engage with grace, civility, and calm, setting an example of equanimity. 4. Remembering the Bigger Picture: Election cycles often intensify short-term concerns. Stoicism encourages us to take the long view and consider our place in the world with perspective. By seeing things in context, we can keep a balanced view and avoid getting lost in momentary emotions. 5. Compassion Toward Others: Stoicism isn’t about suppressing emotions or being indifferent; it’s about cultivating understanding and patience. Recognizing that others are facing their own challenges and that everyone wants what they believe is best can help us remain empathetic and avoid unnecessary conflict. 6. Building Resilience: No matter the outcome, I can use these experiences to strengthen my resilience. This is a chance to practice the Stoic principle of amor fati—loving our fate, even if things don’t turn out as we’d hoped.

Love your fate, let come what may.

I was going down an escalator with my girl

and some dude came down scurrying past us - after which my girl told me (in shock) that she thinks the man had pinched her ass as he walked past

I froze not knowing how to handle the situation as I see him getting away

what would you have done?

EDIT: I think back to this scenario a lot because it feels emasculating / cowardly to not have done anything about it (even though my girlfriend doesn’t think less of me because of it)

I’d like to think i’m stoic for not doing anything when i see the person in the car parked next to me tap my sideview mirror while entering their car door and then drive off without taking accountability but in reality i’m just afraid of confrontation - what would you do in this situation?

"The person you are matters more than the place to which you go; for that reason we should not make the mind a bondsman to any one place."

~ Seneca (Letter 28, On Travel as a Cure for Discontent)

I just took a trip to Italy! 🟩⬜🟥

And while a vacation could be a preferred indifferent, we need to remember why it's indifferent in the first place.

The purpose of a vacation shouldn't be to get away, shouldn't be to depart from where you are now because you unfavour the circumstances.

Our surroundings don't change us, we change us. It's not the environment that causes us to unfavour our circumstances, but our perspectives toward that environment.

So, naturally, people travel as a cure for discontent or restlessness. You're tired, you're not liking the view from your window, the traffic is getting to you, the people are getting to you and eventually, the bubble pops and you 'try to get away from it all...'

But then what?

After your week or month trip, you're back to those same circumstances.

The same circumstances that caused you to up and go in the first place. Now, there's two ways to work through this - and one is wrong. The first way is to constantly keep changing circumstances.

And this is wrong because you may not be able to, it might not be possible, you'll never be satisfied and always looking for more.

The second? Be content with the circumstances you're in.

A vacation shouldn't be used as a tool to get away, but simply as a means to sight-see, because where you are now is good enough.

A vacation shouldn't be used as a means to be content again, but simply as a means to experience new things, because contentment should come long before then.

P.S. If you like the writeup, I've also been making videos about Stoicism and philosophy in general for about a year - come check it out :) Betwixt Philosophy

Cheers

Adam

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I hardly ever cry for anything

I know it's okay to cry sometimes

but at other times it is highly inappropriate and seen in poor light like attention seeking or manipulative, or being a weirdo

and as an adult with a mood disorder but still an adult I must learn to control my emotional state in general

however any time I am very frustrated and anxious or extremely tired but without sleep and/or when processing some pain, along with the trauma I have gathered from past abuse this week,

i start sighing in the most aggressive way my voice box can make

and even in public! especially in public

otherwise I have this habit of responding out loud to the voices in my head so it's like I am having half a conversation with myself

otherwise I am holding my breath the most I can possible due to the anxiety

sometimes I use reddit as a substitute for friends

I don't dare trust people like that, thanks

not really

anyway what?

I'm so fuckin stoned maybe go smoke another joint

Longing for a Supra was quenched when I discovered durability is more valuable that status. My 2007 Tacoma checks every box but isnt pretty. Which caused the longing. Today, one spun its wheels and took off when the light went green.

Sure, that thrill is fun. But the Stoic wants temperance and driving haphazardly is not what we do. Therefor I concluded that A Toyota Supra is a pretty car and owning it would not improve my life. My self esteem is greater because I am content without the car than having it.

These days, I sometimes hang out with an old friend from school after not seeing each other for about 5-6 years. I find myself burning with jealousy—or maybe envy would be the better word—toward him. We hadn’t been in touch because, after school, he went into engineering and I went into law. Since graduating, I’ve been preparing for the judicial service exam to become a civil judge, which is incredibly hard work and demands nearly total devotion.

My friend didn’t get into a good engineering college, so his job options were poor. However, he prepared for the CAT exam, cracked it in a year, and coincidentally got into an IIM (very respectable in Indian middle classes)in the city where I live. When we hang out, he casually talks about how his life is going, and it kills me inside. It feels like my blood is burning with envy.

When he first came to the city, his father came along to help him move into the hostel, and he looked so proud that his son got into an IIM. In India, prestigious university tags are a huge deal, especially in middle and upper-middle-class circles. I can’t even remember the last time my parents felt that proud of me. Since taking admission, my friend has also found a girlfriend—or maybe it’s more of a ‘situationship’—and he lives in a mixed dorm, so they can have sex whenever they want. In Indian small towns that kind of freedom is rare, as booking hotel rooms can be risky and expensive.

To make things crazier, his girlfriend seems to be interested only in the physical side of things—she’s openly said she doesn’t want to put a label on their relationship, so they’re just all about sex. It’s like the fantasy a lot of guys have: crazy sex with no commitment or future expectations. He casually mentions how he ran out of condoms at 4 a.m. the other night and had to figure out a way to get more. Even the medical store owner near his institute has come to know him for buying so many condoms, and he always winks and smiles at him.

It makes me jealous that his life seems so exciting, while my life over the past 4-5 years has felt so dull, filled with studying and lectures from day to night. Worse, this jealousy makes me feel pathetic and petty. It’s crazy how all those years of reading Vedanta, Buddhism, existentialism, and stoic wisdom just go out the window when this jealousy hits. It feels so unreasonable and almost primal.

Another big reason for this feeling is that he’s studying at one of India’s top institutes, so he’ll probably earn much more than me once he completes his MBA. I’m working way harder than he is, and he’s having the time of his life, yet he’s likely to earn more than me in the future. Could you offer some perspective?

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Sorry to post this since that's not way the stoic should be but I feel down She gave every moments and we loved each other cared a lot but in the end she's gone...no one was born as Stoic but I was calm and composed one and even hesitated to get into relationship just not to feel bad as what happened right now...Now I need a change I wanna be better person I don't want to these memories to take over my present self..sorry but I need help

In this video, we break down 5 powerful Stoic habits from Marcus Aurelius that can help you stay calm, focused, and resilient every day. These simple practices are easy to apply and can make a big difference in handling life’s challenges. Perfect if you’re looking to bring a bit more Stoic strength into your life!

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Nothing is permanent everything will be disappear one day. Even you will become the ancestor of your bloodline and your grandchildren were say your name like you say your great grandfather name.

Remember my young kings and queens

Time limited don’t take life for granted. And Don’t take life too seriously also make sure you do the best and when you look back make sure you will not regret about your past. My brother and sister time is limited.

I am reading Letters From a Stoic for the first time. In chapter 36, "I the Virtue of Retirement", Senica writes about returning after death. The way it reads, it sounds like he believes in reincarnation. However, previously, even in the same chapter, he describes how death is the end. That death cannot hurt us because we cease to exist.

Is there anyone who can explain this to me, help me understand what he ultimately is saying?

Fellow stoics,

I am going through multiple things right now and need some guidance from fellow stoics

Career : I am from premier institute and had a decent start for a career. I have been good performer throughout the career. The only drawback was that I switched companies every two years which didn't give me a chance of promotion at any organization I worked for. Now after 7.5 yrs of experience I am at the same level as people with 3-4 yrs experience and with tier 2 colleges.

I am giving 100% at the new organization I have joined and hoping that they give me promotion next year. I have been also talking with HR to consider my experience and give me a promotion. However sometimes I feel that what if I don't get that promotion and then I get demotivated and feel like not doing work.

As a stoic I am doing everything in my hand to approach a goal but I still feel scared of failing.

Meditations book had helped me in my previous crisis related to personal relationship but the career crisis seems to be much tougher.

What better can I do here? Please suggest

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I am NEEDY, and this is COSTING me A LOT!

I am 24 years old. When I was 21, I met someone on the street via cold approach.

The relationship lasted for 1,5 years and then we broke up. She found someone else but I couldn't. I have been single for 2 years. I tried to meet with women on the street many times, but it didn't work. I tried dating apps but it still didn't work. I met someone on the street a week ago, but because I have an intolerance to uncertainty, she got fed up with me and we stopped talking.

There are things about uncertainty that I can't tolerate, such as the constant desire to send messages, getting overly nervous when she doesn't answer, worrying about what if we can't meet, what if she leaves me, etc. We kissed on the first date. But I also need the later steps to happen as well. I need it to happen one more time so that I can prove to myself that I am normal and I can do it like other men.

I researched a lot on the internet, asked some of my close friends and my psychiatrist about texting, why this didn't work with the girl, etc. They said that I shouldn't be needy and should act cool.

I don't know what should I do. I don't know whether to continue with the cold approach, use a dating app, go to a bar/club, or if I should attend social meetings; which even if I did, I don't know how to meet with girls there.

My biggest fear, the biggest worry I've had for a year, and the situation that made me go to the psychiatrist is this: I can't forget about my ex-girlfriend. She's with someone else now but I'm not. "What if this situation continues like this for the rest of my life?" I'm so scared and anxious. "What if bad luck is upon me? What if I am cursed?" I have paranoid things like this in my mind. What if I never find anyone again and live alone for all my life?

Ryan Holiday's podcast today said to always be truthful.

So when I am talking politics with my brother, I would not channeling every point. There is no point to that. Yet I cannot leave him with the idea that I agree or that would be a lie of omission. However... And I think this is important... In a situation like that, I we often speak in order to "Be right" rather than to not lie. We get into the mind space of a debate where an idea cannot go unchallenged. We might use the excuse internally that we don’t want to lie by omission while really wanting to win an argument. Even as I think this through, I find my mind trying to win debates. It is so annoying.

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Lol.... What do you think?

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In this captivating video, we explore the timeless wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher, who mastered the art of staying calm amidst chaos. Discover the techniques and principles he used to maintain his composure during tumultuous times, and learn how you can apply these strategies to your own life today. From the importance of mindfulness to reframing challenges as opportunities, we delve deep into Aurelius's teachings that resonate even in our modern world. Join us on this journey to uncover the secrets of resilience and inner peace. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insightful content!