For The Hot-Headed Man
"Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on — it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to a
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A Proper Frame Of Mind
"Frame your thoughts like this — you are an old person, you won't let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and you'll stop complaining about your
The Source Of Your Anxiety
"When I see an anxious person, I ask myself, what do they want? For if a person wasn't wanting something outside of their own control, why would they be stricken by anxiety?"— Epictetus, DiscoursesT
On Being Invincible
"Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice."— Epictetus, DiscoursesThis is a really interesting topic when we look at it through the eyes of a tra
Steady Your Impulses
"Don't be bounced around, but submit every impulse to the claims of justice, and protect your clear conviction in every appearance."— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsAnother very interesting meditation
Don't Seek Out Strife
"I don't agree with those who plunge headlong into the middle of the flood and who, accepting a turbulent life, struggle daily in great spirit with difficult circumstances. The wise person will endure
Fear Is A Self-FULFILLING Prophecy
"Many are harmed by fear itself, and many may have come to their fate while dreading fate."— Seneca, OedipusHow very true the title of today's meditation is! We can become afraid of disastrous outco
Did That Make You Feel Better?
"You cry, I'm suffering severe pain! Are you then relieved from feeling it, if you bear it in an unmanly way?"— Seneca, Moral LettersToday's meditation is a reminder of something that can happen qui
You Don't Have To Have An Opinion
"We have the power to hold no opinion about a thing and to not let it upset our state of mind — for things have no natural power to shape our judgments."— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsToday's medit
Anger Is Bad Fuel
"There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more bent on its own strength. If successful, none more arrogant, if foiled, none more insane — since it's not driven back by weariness even in
Hero Or Nero?
"Our soul is sometimes a king, and sometimes a tyrant. A king, by attending to what is honorable, protects the good health of the body in its care, and gives it no base or sordid command. But an uncon
Protect Your Peace Of Mind
"Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your fre
Pleasure Can Become Punishment
"Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away by it, let it await your action, give yourself a pause. After that, bring to mind both
Think Before You Act
"For to be wise is only one thing — to fix our attention on our intelligence, which guides all things everywhere."— H Eraclitus, Quoted In Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent PhilosophersToday
Only Bad Dreams
"Clear your mind and get a hold on yourself and, as when awakened from sleep and realizing it was only a bad dream upsetting you, wake up and see that what's there is just like those dreams."— Marcu
Don't Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be
"If someone asks you how to write your name, would you bark out each letter? And if they get angry, would you then return the anger? Wouldn't you rather gently spell out each letter for them? So then,
The Enemy Of Happiness
"It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don't have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn't be hunger or thirst."— Epictetus, Dis
Prepare For The Storm
"This is the true athlete — the person in rigorous training against false impressions. Remain firm, you who suffer, don't be kidnapped by your impressions! The struggle is great, the task divine —
The Banquet Of Life
"Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don't stop it. It hasn't
The Grand Parade Of Desire
"Robbers, perverts, killers, and tyrants — gather for your inspection their so-called pleasures!"— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsToday's meditation is another message on the dangers of desiring more
Wish Not, Want Not
"Remember that it's not only the desire for wealth and position that debases and subjugates us, but also the desire for peace, leisure, travel, and learning. It doesn't matter what the external thing
What's Better Left Unsaid
"Cato practiced the kind of public speech capable of moving the masses, believing proper political philosophy takes care like any great city to maintain the warlike element. But he was never seen prac
Circumstances Have No Care For Our Feelings
"You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all."— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsAgain this meditation can be compared to trading because the markets do not care
The Real Source Of Harm
"Keep in mind that it isn't the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know tha
The Smoke And Dust Of Myth
"Keep a list before your mind of those who burned with anger and resentment about something, of even the most renowned for success, misfortune, evil deeds, or any special distinction. Then ask yoursel
To Each His Own
"Another has done me wrong? Let him see to it. He has his own tendencies, and his own affairs. What I have now is what the common nature has willed, and what I endeavor to accomplish now is what my na
Cultivating Indifference Where Others Grow Passion
"Of all the things that are, some are good, others bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent li
When You Lose Control
"The soul is like a bowl of water, and our impressions are like the ray of light falling upon the water. When the water is troubled, it appears that the light itself is moved too, but it isn't. So, wh
You Can't Always (Be) Get(ting) What You Want
"When children stick their hand down a narrow goody jar they can't get their full fist out and start crying. Drop a few treats and you will get it out! Curb your desire — don't set your heart on so