Summary:
Through the lens of stoic philosophy A Guide to the Good Life seeks to answer questions such as; what’s most important and what is worth pursuing in life? It also delves into the stoic art of negative visualisation and how it can help you feel more content in yourself.
Quotes:
The easiest way for us to gain happiness is to learn how to want the things we already have.
It is, after all, hard to know what to choose when you aren’t really sure what you want.
Anger can be thought of as anti-joy.
We need, in other words, to learn how to enjoy things without feeling entitled to them and without clinging to them.
Similar Books:
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind – Shunryu Suzuki
How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
Book Notes:
- The Ancient Greek stoics argued that moderation and self-control were key in achieving peace of mind and helping to avoid or lessen feelings of frustration and pain.
- Stoicism has its roots in the study of life and the art of how to live a good one.
- Philosophy such as stoicism, can be useful in helping to form a sort of road map for your own life, similar to an operating system or moral code.
- The two central goals that stoics found worthy of pursuing were that of virtue and tranquility. Both were essential to living a good life.
- Instead of seeking or buying more, appreciate what you already have. This corresponds strongly to avoiding hedonic adaptation and the hedonic treadmill.
- Strategies such as negative visualisation, that is imagining that all of your possessions were gone, can help you to appreciate what you currently own.
- Negative visualisation can also help you to appreciate the people you have in your life.
- Realise that some things are simply beyond our control and there is no point letting them worry you.
- No one else can control the goals or values you decide to live your life by.
- Before criticising others remember that we all have faults.
- Developing a more stoic temperament takes time and effort, don’t try to rush it.
