Treat with respect the power you have to form an opinion. By it alone can the helmsman within you avoid forming opinions that are at variance with nature and with the constitution of a reasonable being.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (3.9)
Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
William Morris (1834 – 1896), Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham. London and Nottingham, 1878-1881
Photo: Andrew Munro
Donald Robertson outlines three simple and practical Stoic exercises … so we can all start to think like Marcus Aurelius:
You can also read his excellent book, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor.
Without energy, you are nothing. Great ideas get fuzzy and die, good intentions collapse in a withered heap.
Nicholas Bate has essential guidance…
1. To do the things you want to do, you need energy.
2. Level 1 Energy is dependent upon MEDS, meditation, exercise, diet and sleep.
3. Take time out; move/take stairs/dance/carry; eat wide (variety) and deep (local, in season, simple); sleep.
4. …
Seven obstacles to be mindful of, from Nicholas Bate:
(1) Worrying about what other people might think
(2) The distraction of trivia and melodrama
(5) Not having pen nor paper at all times
(6) Believing things should be fair
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Michael Wade calls for a revival of proper correspondence…
Those odd things that you might spend a chunk of time writing and then you’d mail them and not expect an answer that afternoon. It might be a week or so before you’d seriously expect a reply. And when you received a letter, you might study the letterhead and the quality of the paper and, of course, the person’s signature.
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Nicholas Bate has seven steps for steady improvement…
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Everything is but what your opinion makes it; and that opinion lies within yourself. Renounce it when you will, and at once you have rounded the foreland and all is calm; a tranquil sea, a tideless haven.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (12.22)
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To Nature, whence all things come and whither all return, the cry of the humble and well-instructed heart is, ‘Give as thou wilt, take back as thou wilt;’ yet uttered with no heroics, but in pure obedience and goodwill.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (10.14)
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A short and fascinating read from cognitive psychotherapist, author and Stoic Donald Robertson.
Journaling for self-improvement is nothing new. Daily reflection as moral self-examination goes all the back to ancient Greece and Rome. It was first described in a poem called The Golden Verses of Pythagoras, based on the doctrines of the famous sixth century BCE philosopher. Later, journaling became a key part of Stoicism.
The famous Stoic thinker Seneca wrote…
We know we ought to. Here’s the reason and inspiration.
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