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    “But what is philosophy? Doesn’t it simply mean preparing ourselves for what may come? Don’t you understand that really amounts to saying that if I would so prepare myself to endure, then let anything happen that will? Otherwise, it would be like the boxer exiting the ring because he took some punches. Actually, you can leave the boxing ring without consequence, but what advantage would come from abandoning the pursuit of wisdom? So, what should each of us say to every trial we face? This is what I’ve trained for, for this my discipline!”

    Epictetus, Discourses, via The Daily Stoic (Page 155)

      “The level of the problem is never the level of the solution.”

      Deepak Chopra, The Shadow Effect (Page 64)

        “In the service of God, you can learn three things from a child, and seen from a thief. From a child you can learn: (1) always to be happy; (2) never to sit idle; and (3) to cry for everything one wants. From a thief you should learn: (1) to work at night; (2) if one cannot gain what one wants in one night to try again the next night; (3) to love one’s co-workers just as thieves love each other; (4) to be willing to risk one’s life even for a little thing; (5) not to attach too much value to things even though one has risked one’s life for them—just as a thief will resell as stolen article for a fraction of its real value; (6) to withstand all kinds of beatings and tortures but to remain what you are; and (7) to believe that your work is worthwhile and not be willing to change it.”

        Dov Baer, the Mazid of Mezeritch, via Sunbeams (Page 101)

          “Those who receive the bare theories immediately want to spew them, as an upset stomach does its food. First digest your theories and you won’t throw them up. Otherwise they will be raw, spoiled, and not nourishing. After you’ve digested them, show us the changes in your reasoned choices, just like the shoulders of gymnasts display their diet and training, and as the craft of artisans show in what they’ve learned.”

          Epictetus, Discourses, The Daily Stoic (Page 137)

            “A wise man is never less alone than when he is alone.”

            Jonathan Swift, via Sunbeams (Page 93)

              “Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.”

              André Gide, via Sunbeams (Page 89)

                “Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don’t stop it. It hasn’t yet come? Don’t burn in desire for it, but wait until it arrives in front of you. Act this way with children, a spouse, toward position, with wealth—one day it will make you worthy of a banquet with the gods.”

                Epictetus, Enchiridion, via The Daily Stoic (Page 59)

                  “Here’s a funny exercise: think about all the upsetting things you don’t know about—stuff people might have said about you behind your back, mistakes you might have made that never came to your attention, things you dropped or lost without even realizing it. What’s your reaction? You don’t have one because you don’t know about it. In other words, it is possible to hold no opinion about a negative thing. You just need to cultivate that power instead of wielding it accidentally.”

                  Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 49)

                    “…You are no longer Buddhist or a Hindu or a Christian or a Jew or a Moslem. You are love, you are truth. And love and truth have no form. They flow into forms. But the word is never the same as that which the word connotes. The word ‘God’ is not God, the word ‘Mother’ is not Mother, the word ‘Self’ is not Self, the word ‘moment’ is not the moment. All of these words are empty. We’re playing at the level of intellect, feeding that thing in us that keeps wanting to understand. And here we are, all the words we’ve said are gone. Where did they go? Do you remember them all? Empty, empty. If you heard them, you are at this moment empty. You’re ready for the next word. And the word will go through you. You don’t have to know anything: that’s what’s so funny about it. You get so simple. You’re empty. You know nothing. You simply are wisdom—not becoming anything, just being everything.”

                    Ram Dass, Sunbeams (Page 25)

                    Seneca Quote on Using Rulers To Make What’s Crooked, Straight.

                      “Without a ruler to do it against, you can’t make crooked straight.”

                      Seneca, The Daily Stoic (Page 36)

                      Beyond the Quote (Day 393)

                      Role models serve as rulers for our lives. Without role models, there’s no reference to compare the line of our lives against. How to know which direction is “straight” and which is “crooked?” It’s like when you’re lost at sea. Having a reference point like the North Star or a compass to guide your direction is everything. Otherwise, who knows which direction leads to land? All direction is arbitrary without a guide. This is how it is in our lives, too.

                      Read More »Seneca Quote on Using Rulers To Make What’s Crooked, Straight.

                        “I have made a great discovery. I no longer believe in anything… It is not the object that matters to me but what is between them: it is this ‘in-between’ that is the real subject of my pictures. When one reaches this state of harmony between things and one’s self, one reaches… a state of perfect freedom and peace—which makes everything possible and right. Life then becomes perpetual revelation.”

                        George Braque, Sunbeams (Page 24)

                          “In all circumstances—adversity or advantage—we really have just one thing we need to do: focus on what is in our control as opposed to what is not. Right now we might be laid low with struggles, whereas just a few years ago we might have lived high on the hog, and in just a few days we might be doing so well that success is actually a burden. One thing will stay constant: our freedom of choice—both in the big picture and the small picture. Ultimately, this is clarity.”

                          Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 27)

                            “You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.”

                            Annie Dillard, Sunbeams (Page 9)

                              “Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought.”

                              Matsuo Basho, Sunbeams (Page 9)

                              Seneca Quote on Philosophy and How Only Those Who Prioritize It, Truly Live.

                                “Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only they truly live. Not satisfied to merely keep good watch over their own days, they annex every age to their own. All the harvest of the past is added to their store. Only an ingrate would fail to see that these great architects of venerable thoughts were born for us and have designed a way of life for us.”

                                Seneca, via The Daily Stoic

                                Beyond the Quote (Day 373)

                                “Philosophia” is the Ancient Greek word for the “love of wisdom.” Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. It can be thought then, that those who make time for Philosophy are those who make time for better living. For, what is better living composed of but better experience, better knowledge, and better judgement?

                                Read More »Seneca Quote on Philosophy and How Only Those Who Prioritize It, Truly Live.

                                  “All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”

                                  Marcus Aurelius, via The Daily Stoic (Page 12)