Stoicism emerged as a philosophy, a way of life - similar to a religion, really - most famously in ancient Rome somewhere around 50-100 AD (even though it was Greeks who pioneered the thinking).
Two millennia later, the philosophy is enjoying a revival of sorts, and it's not hard to understand why.
The primary goal of ancient Stoicism was to figure out the best way to live;
as modern philosopher Lawrence Becker writes: "Its central, organizing concern is about what one ought to do or be to live well - to flourish." And this question of how to live is perhaps humanity's most enduring - becoming especially acute in ages in which a sense of shared meaning has atrophied and every individual is left to find meaning on his own. Stoicism's answers, its fundamental tenets - what many modern writers and thinkers have deemed the "art of living" - thus feel just as relevant now as they did a couple thousand years ago.
While we've covered some tenets of Stoicism on the Art of Manliness before (
and given an introduction to it in a podcast interview), we've never laid out its more concrete practices - the tactics that lead both to personal joy and the betterment of society. It's my aim to present five ways you can start to inject Stoicism into your life today, and begin experiencing more happiness and fulfillment.
Comment: As with all technologies, smartphones have the power to make our lives easier and more productive, or paradoxically, they can do the opposite, wasting time and squandering our productivity. What is required is smart smartphone use - being aware of the dangers and taking measures to counter them.
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