Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius

Life is not fair and it cares little for our feelings or our plans.

It’s a reminder all these years later for everyone considering their legacy. It’s not what you say that lives on after your time; it’s not what you write or even what you build. It’s the example that you set. It’s the things that you live by.

“Well-being is realized by small steps,” he would say, looking back, “but is truly no small thing.”

Just because someone has anxieties or self-doubts or was taught the wrong things early in life doesn’t mean they can’t become something great, provided they have the courage (and the mentors) to help them change.

Anything you do well is noble, no matter how humble. And possibly even more admirable if you deliberately forgo status in the pursuit of what you really love.

Learn. Apply. Learn. Apply. Learn. Apply. This is the Stoic way.

To the Greeks, each of us had a daimon, an inner genius or guiding purpose that is connected to the universal nature. Those who live by keeping the individual and universal natures in agreement are happy, Zeno said, and those who don’t are not.

isn’t that what books are? A way to gain wisdom from those no longer with us?

Panaetius, while born to privilege, chose not to settle into that comfortable life of ease. Instead, he openly embraced duty and the responsibility of a much broader stage. He took the resources he was given and leveraged them, becoming the best version of himself and contributing as much as he could to the big projects of his time.