Jonas Salzgeber - The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness

Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness

Jonas Salzgeber

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The power of philosophy to blunt the blows of fate is beyond belief. No missile can settle in her body; she is well-protected and impenetrable. She spoils the force of some missiles and wards them off with the loose folds of her dress, as if they had no power to harm; others she dashes aside, and throws them back with such force that they rebound upon the sender. Farewell.
Seneca

Maybe youve stumbled upon a smart quote by an ancient Stoic philosopher or youve read an article that shared some inspiring Stoic ideas. Maybe youve been told about that helpful and flourishing old philosophy by a friend or youve already studied a book or two about Stoicism. Or maybe, although chances are very low, youve never even heard about it before.

However, encountering Stoicism in one way or another is the easy part. Understanding and explaining exactly what it is, though, is the tricky part. Recognizing and seeing exactly how its relevant today and how it can help you, is the challenging part. Fully grasping it and putting it into practice, is the ambitious partthats where the gold is hidden.

What the Stoics taught and practiced in the era of gladiators fighting for their lives and Romans socializing in steaming baths is still remarkably applicable in the era of Game of Thrones and Facebook. The wisdom of this ancient philosophy is timeless, and its value in the quest for a happy and meaningful life is undeniable.

With this book, youre holding the treasure map in your hands. It introduces you to the leading philosophers. It gives you an easy to understand overview of the philosophy. It teaches you the core principles. It provides you with Stoic Practices and helpful hints for the application in your challenging life. And most importantly, it shows you how to translate it from book page to action in the real world.

Cool! But how does a twenty-something know how to write the Stoic treasure map for the good life? Fair enough, Id be wondering about that too. After many years of school and university, I was sick of reading academic books and papers and learning about stuff that didnt really teach me anything of real life value. So, literally the day after handing in my final paper, I left the country and started my seven months long travel around the world. I wanted to get away, see places and other cultures, but mainly I wanted to get to know myself so Id know what I wanted to do with my life when I got back. That last part did not work out; however, I did figure out something else instead: I somehow must have missed the class on how to live?!

In fifteen and a half years of schooling, I learned math, physics, chemistry, biology, and a bunch of other stuff, except how to deal with challenging situations? How to face my fears and struggles? What to do about my depressive feelings? How to deal effectively with the death of my friend? What to do with my anger? How to be more confident? Nope, I must have missed all those classes. That, by the way, is exactly what schools of philosophy were all about in the ancient world, they taught you how to live. And even though these schools dont exist anymore, you and I and most people are in as much need of a philosophy that teaches us how to live as we ever were.

Long story short, I decided to invest in myself and learn how to live well. From all the wisdom I devoured in the following years, Stoic philosophy helped me the most, even though it didnt start on good terms. Before I knew much (anything) about the philosophy, I thought this must be the most boring thing on earth. I mean, after all, its called Stoicism and not Supermanism or something else that would indicate its worth studying.

I gave it a shot anyway, got hooked, and since then Ive been a voracious student and practitioner of Stoic philosophy. And even though Ive read and reread countless books, Ive always lacked a source that provides a simple overview and explains what exactly Stoicism is. So I wrote this massive article that should do exactly that: Give an overview of the philosophy and say what its all about. Fortunately, many people loved the article and found it immensely helpfulso much, actually, that someone stole the exact content and sold it as his book. That did not only test my personal Stoic mindset, but all the five-star reviews it got told me that people really want to learn about this philosophy.

So here I am, passionately writing about what would have saved me countless weeks of research and would have provided so much sought-after and desperately needed wisdom from this exemplary philosophy. Im positive that this book will contribute to the modern Stoic literature and, most importantly, that it will serve you well on your quest for the good life. Because thats really what Stoicism helps you with: living a great life.

Whatever youre going through, theres advice from the Stoics that can help. Despite the philosophys age, its wisdom often feels surprisingly modern and fresh. It can help you build stamina and strength for your challenging life. It can help you become emotionally resilient so youll neither get jerked around by outside events nor will others be able to push your buttons. It can teach you to handle yourself and stay calm in the midst of a storm. It can help you make decisions and therefore drastically simplify everyday living.

He who studies with a philosopher, Seneca says, should take away with him some one good thing every day: he should daily return home a sounder man, or in the way to become sounder. Practicing Stoicism helps you improve yourself as a person; it teaches you to mindfully live by a set of desirable values such as courage, patience, self-discipline, serenity, perseverance, forgiveness, kindness, and humility. Its many anchors offer security and guidance and will level up your confidence.

And you can get that too. In fact, Stoic philosophy made the good life a reachable goal for everybody, cutting through social classeswhether youre rich or poor, healthy or sick, well-educated or not, it makes no difference to your ability to live the good life. The Stoics were living proof that its possible for someone to be exiled to a desert island and still be happier than someone living in a palace. They understood very well that theres only a loose connection between external circumstances and our happiness.

In Stoicism, what you do with the given circumstances matters much more. Stoics recognized that the good life depends on the cultivation of ones character, on ones choices and actions rather than on what happens in the uncontrollable world around us. This, my fellow Stoic student, is at the root of a tough and at the same time highly attractive aspect of Stoicismit makes us responsible and deprives us of any excuses for not living the best life possible.