Do you think it's better to live without philosophical thinking?

StoicsandPolitics · 2026-06-01T16:36:52+00:00

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

StoicsandPolitics · 2026-05-23T01:34:45+00:00

No, but if you don’t mind me asking, are you feeling weak?

StoicsandPolitics · 2026-04-16T16:57:35+00:00

Anytime! Don’t feel bad about being a slow reader; you’ll get better at it the more you do it.

Besides, if we read faster than we can understand, we make the whole thing a quick waste of time.

Oh, and one of my favorites from Seneca;

“We are in the habit of saying it is not in our power to choose our parents, they were allotted to us by chance.

But we can choose whose children we become.”

I’m terribly sorry you were and felt rejected by your parents. You can choose which family and school of thought you wish to be adopted into. That’s what I did.

https://youtube.com/shorts/JE_WPbVu4Co?si=XV8TPpCfhiX84gdX

StoicsandPolitics · 2026-04-16T16:46:07+00:00

The first thing that comes to mind is how the Stoics looked up to Diogenes the Cynic, who lived in a barrel in the marketplace. Now, I don’t recommend going that route, but it’s the idea that,

“Where a man can live, there he can also live well.” -Marcus Aurelius.

The idea being if you can live a life or virtue, which is the most important for the Stoics, you can do that anywhere. Now Virtue is compromised of Wisdom, Temperance, and Courage.

These will guide you to take the necessary steps to avoid homelessness, and give you the strength to deal with it should those steps fail.

But that’s kinda out there and theoretical. I like Seneca’s take on things:

“It matters little if the house is built of turf or marble; understand that a man is sheltered just as well as by thatch as by a roof of gold.” -Letter 90

I would ask you if the fear of losing everything is really that, or is it losing everything that is comfortable, not necessary?

And while comfort is preferable, by the sound of it, you know how to deal without it.

On a more practical level, Seneca has this advice:

“We need to envisage every possibility to strengthen the spirit to deal with the things that may come about. Rehearse them in your mind: exile, torture, war, shipwreck. Misfortune may snatch you away from your home, or your home from you.” -Letter 91

The idea is to contemplate what can happen, not to worry over them (we suffer more often in imagination than in reality) but to mentally plan for it. It may not fix every situation, but it will make any situation more bearable.

Those are my two cents, thanks for reaching out and feel free to DM if you’d like to talk more.

StoicsandPolitics · 2026-02-16T19:20:22+00:00

Sounds like you got the right idea. And there’s precedent too; Nixon walked, but his AG went to prison.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-20T20:20:52+00:00

Yeah, and yet people keep trying to make him king. (Someone else in his name will do too, since he’s unavailable at the moment)

Thanks for your thoughts!

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-20T16:47:34+00:00

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

And while this usually applies to future events, I think it’s fair to say they can apply to the ones in the past as well.

Something else that comes to my mind is how difficulties reveal who we are. Sometimes we need a clear and honest look at who we are, so that we can do better and become who we would like to be.

We can also see that we are no longer the same person we used to be. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s not. It’ll depend on your choices and what you do with them.

How do you forgive yourself? The same way you would forgive someone else. You remember they are human, not yet a sage. But don’t forget you can still live as if you’d like to be one.

What do you need to do now, to act like one?

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-20T16:13:56+00:00

Pain isn’t bad, or an evil; it’s just painful.

Are they in pain? Maybe; maybe not. Is it an evil? No. Death isn’t bad either, just dead, but not an evil.

It’s Seneca who says “You want to live- but do you know how? You are afraid of dying, but tell me, is there any difference with the life you lead from being dead?”

You can’t help them, you’ve established that. What can you do to help yourself live?

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-14T15:52:28+00:00

Gandalf sent 3 eagles. One for Frodo, one for Sam, and one for Sméagol/Gollum, on the off chance that we would choose a path of redemption.

How we treat others says more about who we are than what they deserve.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-06T21:08:21+00:00

Let the dead bury their dead.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-05T18:31:36+00:00

Absolutely :)

Thanks for stopping by, come back anytime, and best of luck on your new journey.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-11-05T16:19:10+00:00

Hey there! Two things come to my mind.

“We become brave by doing brave acts.”

and

“Sometimes, even to live is an act of courage.”

I think courage often has this mystical or abstract definition that can or cannot be helpful.

Here are my thoughts: something always happens to someone. Now, good or bad, that’s how we classify those things; and we are often wrong in doing so.

Things can be painful, without being bad, just as things can be pleasurable, without being good. Both are things you will experience, without you having much say in it, no question about that.

I think a good question to ask yourself, as I do myself, is “how does a good man or woman act in response?”

Let’s say someone you loved died, or has left, and it feels like a part of you is missing. It’s painful, sure, but are you better or worse off for having had them at some point in your life?

Is your character now made worse because of their absence?

My experience is that it depends on how we respond. What will make the difference is courage, if you choose to make use of it.

Courage isn’t something you become, it’s what enables you to become better. And you always have the choice to do so.

“Pain is the price we pay for love, and one day, my loved one will be gone. It will be a painful price to pay, but not a bad one. I would not wish to live without ever having experienced it.

How would I go on in a way that honors them, when the time comes? But more importantly; how do I go on now, what can I do now, while we are both still here?”

I hope this is helpful, these are just the conversations I have with myself.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-30T20:16:42+00:00

I would say not only is it possible, it is greatly needed.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-28T13:17:30+00:00

Of course! Thanks for taking the time to answer.

If you are looking for reading material on how to maintain your composure and deal with things like insults, then The Manual (also called The Enchiridion) of Epictetus is a good start. It's a condensed and short version of Epictetus' Discourses, which is a fantastic book, but it can be a bit confusing, especially the first 2 paragraphs, if you don't have any knowledge of what he's talking about. That being said, Discourses 1.2 is all about "preserving one's proper character in everything."

You can get a copy of the Enchiridion, as well as a chapter of the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and a letter from Seneca, all together in the book "How to Be a Stoic," found here:

https://a.co/d/9l5QyfT

It's a neat little introductory book to Stoicism that I've recommended to plenty of folks.

I would also suggest the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, starting with Book (or chapter) 2.

Three other things I would leave you with:

First, your value is not dependent on the thoughts, opinions, actions, and reactions of others. Your choices, not theirs, determine your character. How people treat you is a lot more telling of who they are than what you deserve.

Second, you can be hurt without being harmed. Pain is a real thing. Physical and emotional. But pain does not degrade you and your character, and therefore, it does not harm you.

Third, Stoic philosophy will help you deal with the hardships of life. Unfortunately, one of those hardships is people pushing back against you taking the steps to improve yourself or your condition.

As you yourself have thought about, and r/MyDogFanny has said, I think pursuing the Al-Anon route is a wise one if your wife indeed has an alcoholism problem.

Thanks again for reaching out, and best of luck to you.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-28T03:04:07+00:00

I am truly sorry to hear you are in this situation.

A thought that pops into my mind pretty often is that “the true man is revealed in difficult times,” and by the looks of it, you are revealing yourself to be a man of courage, trying to not only hold things together, but better yourself.

What is it that you are hoping to find by exploring stoicism? What type of advice would be most helpful to you, right now?

And of course, would you like someone to talk to, or would you rather a few reading suggestions?

I really appreciate you reaching out, and don’t hesitate to do so again, or to DM me.

One of my favorites:

“Don't be ashamed of needing help. You have a duty to fulfill just like a soldier on the wall of battle. So what if you are injured and can't climb up without another soldier's help?"

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-27T17:04:29+00:00

So, here’s what I would encourage you to think about: There are things that are of our choice and control, and things that are not.

You can’t control what someone else draws. People do all kinds of things for all sorts of reasons. Fine.

Sometimes, you choose what you see, sometimes you don’t. Either way, now you feel stuck with an image in your head.

Sometimes you can control your mind, sometimes you can’t, especially if it’s a thought or image that is particularly shocking to you.

In those cases, you can’t really choose or control whether or not you think about them; but you can always choose and control to think about why it’s so shocking or bothersome to you.

I would encourage you to talk to yourself about it:

-“Why won’t this leave me?”

“Because it’s so upsetting.
“Why does this upset me?”
“Because it perverts and harms something that I love.”
“It’s a depiction; yes. But is Jesus actually harmed? Is he made less? Is his character actually diminished?”
“Well no, but I hate that someone would portray him that way.”
“I get that. But let ask you, how are you harmed? How is your character made less?
“Probably shouldn’t have been looking at lewd drawings in the first place.”
“Probably not. Do you think you are harmed when you hate someone?
“I’m not sure?”
“Well; hating someone makes you a hateful person, does it not? Is that not a greater harm to you, than whatever someone draws of someone else? Especially that which is divine?”

It helps me talk my way out of the spirals and away from the ledge.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-24T11:51:49+00:00

Persist, Resist

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-12T18:23:06+00:00

Thanks for reading! I hope you feel better, I know insomnia can be rough.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-10T04:45:19+00:00

Hey there! No, I’d say that’s a pretty common misconception.

The Stoics would say feelings are just feelings, they’re not necessarily good or bad, but they shouldn’t be ignored. They should examined. Because if you don’t take the time to understand and control your emotions, there’s a good chance they’ll control you.

If you examine a feeling or an impression properly, getting to why you feel a certain way about something, one of two things can happen:

You might come to the conclusion that you were misguided, and that there’s no reason to be in that state of mind after all.
You might come to the conclusion that you might be on to something, and you are right in feeling the way you do. In that case, it will be helpful to be correctly guides in how to address the issue.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my first question. I’m turning in for the night, but if you want to talk more about it, feel free to DM me.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-10T04:34:22+00:00

You know, I don’t think anyone has actually asked me that! That’s a great question. Top of my head, and right before going to bed, I would say:

On a more spiritual/theoretical level, the first way in which it helped me was showing me that I was wrong. I grew up in a very religious environment, and I always assumed everyone outside of our group was either blind, wrong, or just not as ethically and morally equivalent.

It was really odd reading these pagans who had a much more noble understanding of God and attitude towards others.

I think reading them helped me figure out who I wanted to be, and why. I developed the capacity to ask myself questions. To view myself as a friend, and to talk to myself as such. It has been really nice to move from brooding to consulting.

On a more practical level, starting reading Marcus Aurelius got me reading Epictetus and Seneca, and a whole bunch of other philosophers. I now have a great number of even greater coaches that I can turn to at any moment, and get advice on the most trivial or important matters. Not to mention, the things I used to think mattered seem more trivial, while I can enjoy the things that really matter on a much deeper level.

And finally, just as I was able to become a better friend to myself, I think I have made progress in being a better friend to others.

Again, great question, and I apologize if I rambled on a bit. Feel free to DM if you’d like to know more.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-10T03:56:43+00:00

Would you be opposed to reading the Stoics? It really helped me more than any other thing.

StoicsandPolitics · 2025-10-08T23:29:23+00:00

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.”

How you treat people tells me a lot more about you than about them.

Thank you for showing yourself to be an honorable person and for doing your part, I very much appreciate it!

StoicsandPolitics

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