Stoic Coffee Break

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Sene...

“Even as the Sun does not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so should you not wait for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do your duty; nay, do good of your own accord, and you will be loved like the Sun.” ― Epictetus One of the ideas that is common in a lot of religions is the idea of doing good works without the fanfare of other people. T...

“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” ― Seneca We live in a time where the average lifespan is almost double what it was 200 years ago. Advances in medicine, sanitation, and agriculture have made it possible for more people to live longer. And in many other ways, the physical and external parts of life are better. Life is certainly much easier than it...

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” ― Marcus Aurelius Have you ever considered the possibility that you don’t need to have an opinion about something? That you don’t need to pass judgment on everything? Before you spend yo...

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” — Epictetus Have you found your tribe? Have you found that group of people that are your “chosen” family, who just make you feel good? Where you feel like you are accepted and understood? Where you don’t feel like you have to be on your guard? You can make mistakes. When you find your tribe, you thr...

“He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.” ― Epictetus One of the most important things in life is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Remember, Stoics keep in the forefront of their minds the knowledge that one day they too will die, and when you look at life through that lens, you learn to give things their appropriate weight. Is that thing that you are stressing ab...

“How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury. Vengeance wastes a lot of time and exposes you to many more injuries than the first that sparked it. Anger always outlasts hurt. Best to take the opposite course. Would anyone think it normal to return a kick to a mule or a bite to a dog?” — Seneca I was talking with a friend the other day about how to deal with anger. He asked me specificall...

“Nature hath given men one tongue but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak.” — Epictetus Epictetus was known for his clever wit and pithy sayings, and here he’s giving us some very good advice of how we should handle ourselves in any social situation. We’ve all been around people that dominate conversations, and maybe we’ve been that person.   As I’ve mentioned before o...

“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.” — Epictetus Often, we find it difficult to take the steps to improve in an area we’re weak in. We can see how we want to be, and we get impatient when we’re not make the progress that we think we should. It also hard because we often know what not to do, but we don’t quite know what we should do to get where we want...

“Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control.” ― Epictetus One of the idea that the Sto...

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.” — Marcus Aurelius --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our n...

“It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.” ― Marcus Aurelius How often do you take time in your day to retreat the the tranquility of your mind? Our phones, our computers, TV, radio, YouTube, so many things that can drive us to distraction. So many things out that we could give our att...

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” ― Marcus Aurelius If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, then you’ll recognize the term “Memento Mori” which means to remember death, in that you you could leave life at any moment. The Stoics believed strongly in keeping this idea in the forefront of their decision making and how they went about th...

“Epictetus being asked how a man should give pain to his enemy answered, By preparing himself to live the best life that he can.” — Epictetus How often have we been upset with someone and wished ill on them? Maybe someone said something unflattering about us, and we pointed out all of their faults to show that they’re worse than us? What if instead of looking for ways to bring that other person do...

“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.” ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts and hoodies...

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.” ― Marcus Aurelius --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts an...

“It is unrealistic to expect people to see you as you see yourself.” ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts and hoodies at the Stoic Coffee Shop . Like the theme song? You can fin...

“Most of what passes for legitimate entertainment is inferior or foolish and only caters to or exploits people's weaknesses. Avoid being one of the mob who indulges in such pastimes. Your life is too short and you have important things to do. Be discriminating about what images and ideas you permit into your mind. If you yourself don't choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someon...

“Do not try to seem wise to others. If you want to live a wise life, live it on your own terms and in your own eyes.” ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts and hoodies at the Sto...

“A boxer derives the greatest advantage from his sparring partner – and my accuser is my sparring partner. He trains me in patience, civility and even temper.” — Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some g...

“Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?” — Marcus Aurelius --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and...

“We must not believe the many, who say that only free people ought to be educated, but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that only the educated are free.” — Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and...

“Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now. You are not some disinterested bystander. Participate. Exert yourself.” ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these prin...

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.” ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some great looking shirts and hoodies at the Stoic Coffee Shop . Like...

“Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents." ― Epictetus --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take th...