The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

It’s fitting, then, that Marcus Aurelius would suggest this Stoic mantra—a reminder or watch phrase to use when we feel false impressions, distractions, or the crush of everyday life upon us. It says, essentially, “I have the power within me to keep that out. I can see the truth.”

“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 freedom. For what would you sell these things?”

For this is what makes us evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.”

Your actual needs are small. There is very little that could happen that would truly threaten your survival.

“Chasing what can’t be done is madness. But the base person is unable to do anything else.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS

you have to be open-minded and accepting enough to let others do the same.

“In this way you must understand how laughable it is to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What advice could I possibly give? No, a far better request is, ‘Train my mind to adapt to any circumstance.’ . . . In this way, if circumstances take you off script . . . you won’t be desperate for a new prompting.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES

The things we fear pale in comparison to the damage we do to ourselves and others when we unthinkingly scramble to avoid them.

The point is not to wish for these adversities, but for the virtue that makes adversities bearable.”