Podcasts about stoics

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism.In this Stoic Quotes episode, Benny reflects on the words of Seneca from On Providence, section 4:“You are unfortunate in my judgment, for you have never been unfortunate. You have passed through life with no antagonist to face you. No one will know what you were capable of, not even yourself.”Seneca reminds us that trials and obstacles are not punishments but opportunities. Without resistance, we never learn our limits or discover our inner strength. For the Stoics, hardship is the training ground for virtue, a test that sharpens self-knowledge and resilience.Benny explores how this insight connects to the Socratic principle of “know yourself,” the Stoic embrace of adversity as a teacher, and the mindset shift that transforms obstacles from burdens into opportunities for growth. From athletes seeking worthy opponents to Marcus Aurelius' reminder that “the obstacle is the way,” Stoicism teaches us that challenges reveal what we are truly capable of.Practical ReflectionsWhen facing obstacles, pause and ask: What is this teaching me about myself?Reframe difficulties as tests of character rather than punishments of fate.Remember past struggles you overcame; you are stronger than you imagine.For more, check out this related article on overcoming adversity:https://viastoica.com/stoic-freedomAnd if you're looking for more Stoic sayings, visit viastoica.com, where you'll find hundreds of quotes with full references to the original texts:https://viastoica.com/stoic-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/seneca-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/marcus-aurelius-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/epictetus-quotesMake sure to subscribe for more Stoic Quotes episodes every Friday, as well as our Tuesday interviews and longer discussions.Support the showhttps://viastoica.comhttps://viastoica.com/stoic-life-coachinghttps://viastoica.com/benny-vonckenhttps://x.com/ViaStoicainfo@viastoica.comProduced by: badmic.com

In this episode, we follow Epictetus and Musonius Rufus as they dismantle the illusion that we can control anyone—or anything—outside ourselves.Through the story of a man desperate to end his brother's anger and Musonius's calm endurance in exile, the Stoics remind us that patience and virtue are the only sure defenses against life's turbulence.External blows, whether personal slights or imperial banishments, cannot touch the command center within. What matters most is how we shape our own art of living, turning adversity into raw material for strength.

Today we talk about two famous critiques of Stoicism. One by Friedrich Nietzsche who thought the Stoics weren't life affirming enough and so rob themselves of some of the best parts of life. The other by Arthur Schopenhauer who thought the Stoics were too life-affirming of worldly things to ever reach a deep understanding of things. Hope you love it! :) Sponsors: ZocDoc: https://www.ZocDoc.com/PHILO Quince: https://www.QUINCE.com/pt Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help.  Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philosophizethis  Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophizethispodcast X: https://twitter.com/iamstephenwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophizethisshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode, we kick off Part 1 of an unforgettable fireside chat with bestselling author and modern-day philosopher Ryan Holiday, recorded live at the 2025 Dental Success Summit. Dr. Mark Costes sits down with Ryan to explore his journey from college dropout to Director of Marketing at American Apparel, and eventually to becoming a bestselling author and one of the leading voices in contemporary Stoic philosophy.   Ryan shares how mentorship from Robert Greene shaped his writing career, what it was like working inside a chaotic billion-dollar startup, and how his first book on media manipulation laid the groundwork for his later philosophical works. He also discusses the founding of his Bastrop-based bookstore and content studio, the Painted Porch, and explains how the wisdom of ancient Stoics remains powerfully relevant in today's fast-paced, tech-saturated world. Be sure to check out the full episode from the Dentalpreneur Podcast! EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.truedentalsuccess.com Dental Success Network Subscribe to The Dentalpreneur Podcast

Mark Matousek discusses his book “Emerson, the Stoics, and Me: Timeless Wisdom for Living an Authentic Life.” The post Fund Drive Special: Emerson and the Stoics appeared first on KPFA.

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism.Immigration is one of the most polarizing topics of our time, stirring emotions, fears, and debates across nations. But how might the Stoics approach it?In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, Benny explores immigration through the lens of Stoic philosophy. Drawing from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the Stoic idea of cosmopolitanism, he unpacks how we might see beyond national borders and labels to recognize each other as fellow citizens of the world.Benny examines the natural movement of people, the fears that immigration often provokes, such as economic competition, cultural change, and security, and contrasts these with Stoic principles of justice, compassion, and role ethics. He reflects on Hierocles' circles of concern, the Stoic “view from above,” and what it means to treat strangers as kin.Rather than succumbing to fear and division, Stoicism invites us to build understanding through education, dialogue, and shared humanity. Immigration, seen from this perspective, becomes not just a challenge but an opportunity to practice virtue, unity, and wisdom in our global community.If you've ever wondered how Stoic philosophy can help us reframe modern debates about borders, culture, and identity, this episode offers a thought-provoking starting point.Support the show

In this episode I tackle a question that every practicing Stoic has probably wrestled with: can we ever take a day off from Stoicism? If the pursuit of virtue is supposed to shape every moment of our lives, does that mean we must always be vigilant, never resting? I explore what the ancient texts say, how the ancients themselves surely stumbled, and why purposeful rest isn't a betrayal of Stoic practice but part of sustaining it. Key takeaways from this episode include: — While Epictetus and Marcus urge vigilance, they also admit we'll falter — and the key is always to return to the path. — Rest is not an escape from virtue but a way of preserving our rational faculty so we can act justly, wisely, and with courage. — Burnout undermines Stoic practice; deliberate rest strengthens it. — The ancients weren't sages, and neither are we — taking breaks is part of the human condition and consistent with Stoic growth. — If you nap beside the Stoic path, the path will still be there in the morning. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textJoin your host Clifton Pope as he is back with another solocast as the Return of the Spiritual Enlightenment Series for September is officially back.The theme for this month's edition of the Spiritual Enlightenment Series is Standing Firm when no one is looking!Clifton breaks down on how integrity isn't just doing the right thing when others are watching. It's about living consistently with your values even when no one will know. Not to mention, we get the moment from the Quran, Buddha, Stoics, and the Bible to show how this overall theme is described differently in each religious but expresses the same message.Hit that follow/subscribe button on Apple/Spotify Podcasts/Rumble(@CPHFWB44) so you don't miss a single installment of the Spiritual Enlightenment Series Visit https://buymeacoffee.com/cphfwb to support the growth of the show by joining the HFWB community by making a friendly donation(coffee purchase) to your choice of 3 tiers with exclusive benefits included in each tier level!Visit https://elevate-holistics.com/ and use the code HFWB to save 20% off your medical marijuana card online in minutes, hassle-free. Get approved today. If you're not approved, you get your money back – guaranteed.Leave a rating/review as it truly helps in empowering like-minded individuals with information provided by Clifton Pope and all guests on the show!Thank you for the love and support!Support the showhttps://athleticism.com/HEALTHFWEALTHB https://coolgreenclothing.com/HEALTHFITNESSWEALTHBUSINESS https://normotim.com/HEALTHFIT https://www.portablemeshnebulizer.com/pages/collab?dt_id=2573900official affiliates of the HFWB Podcast Series Please support the mission behind each product/services as it helps grow the HFWB Podcast Series to where the show can continue to roll along!

PRESENCE PRAYER SOUL AND SPIRIT     The journey of our lives as human beings with a spirit and a soul involves the reordering of the psychikos or soulish self of separation back into alignment with our true spiritual self in Christ through the Spirit of God. We can become transformed from psychikos or soulish to pneumatikos or spiritual. Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.   And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit because they are `spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:13)   Adam and Eve started that journey by creating a limited human soul.   The first man Adam became (ginomai) a living soul (psychikos) the last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit (pneumatikos). But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural psychikos), and then the spiritual.  (1Corinthians 15:45)   God had created Adam's body from the dust of the earth and then breathed his spirit into that body. Adam now had a created body and a created spirit but then the Bible says a really interesting thing - that ‘man became a living soul'. That word ‘became ‘in the Greek is ginomai, and it means to cause to come into being, to make or create. God did not form a ready-made soul in us, but he created the capacity for us to shape a soul as a personal entity that was to become the expression of who we are in our inner being. That's becomes the face of us. Our soul expresses the mind and heart of our unique God created spirit through the journey of our life, embodied by a physical body.    Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God, and they created blameless or innocent souls. Innocence means to not be harmed or hurt – not feeling forsaken. But harm and hurt and forsakenness came into Adam and Eve's lives through the lie of the serpent. Satan in the form of the serpent deceived them into believing that God had deprived them of the Divine wisdom that they could have if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve then created souls that separated their true blameless selves from God's presence. Harm and hurt came into their lives and they became harmful and hurtful people and turned their harmless souls into harmful souls by creating protective helper parts in their souls to avoid feeling forsaken again. These soulish parts created a mindset and a heart-set of separation between them and God. This process became the universal human journey of the soul throughout its life.   Our souls are the expression of our spiritual self but our souls have created an inferior version of OUR spiritual self because of the psychikos soul's self-serving needs. It has created parts to it that helped us to get over the problems, to deal with rejection, to advance itself, to be able to establish a reputation, to feel a victim or to be successful. It has become the me-self version of what the God with us self was created to be – God with us – Emmanuel. When we were very young we made immature decisions in our souls to protect us from having to suffer from these early traumas again. Don't condemn yourself for doing that as you had no option. You were there as a me-self person not knowing that God was there with you. and you didn't say ‘Lord come and help me here'. We tried to work out a way to work through these things - and we created strategies that ended up not having the wisdom to actually work. We created ‘helper parts' in our souls. We may have gotten our own way but look what those helper parts have done to our relationships, self worth - our lives. This has resulted in our spirits becoming ‘orphaned'. Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans but that he would send us ‘Another Helper' the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16-18)   The individual uniqueness of every person mirrors the fact that we have each been created with a unique spiritual DNA. That spiritual DNA is contained in the spiritual seed of life of the Word (the Logos) that has spoken our spiritual life into being in eternity. That seed word was destined to be expressed from our spirit into and through our soul and embodied by us as a whole person, spirit soul and body. The journey is about our soul being reordered, not deleted. James 1:21… receive with meekness the implanted word (logos seed), which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural (genesis) face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.   Genesis in the Greek means original. So our Genesis self is the original unique spiritual self, designed and created by God's word (LOGOS) before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). We discover in the mirror of the Word our true unique spiritual self then we walk away and forget that and get drawn back into expressing our psychikos soulish self again with all its unresolved helper parts.   That unique spirit is waiting to be expressed in a saved and healed soul, saved from what we have plunged our souls into because of a mindset of separation from God. That is why we are looking at presence prayer as a pathway of hope and faith and love back into what our souls could truly express as we draw near to God and ask for the Holy Spirit, our New Helpe,r to reveal to us what Jesus is saying to us and what our Father is doing for us. Jesus is that LOGOS, the seed of life that encompasses the true DNA of everything created, every instinctive response of every living thing designed and upheld by LOGOS (Hebrews 1:3) and his logos seed has been sown into our unique spirit to make us one in Spirit with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (1Peter 1:23)   John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made The Greek logos was seen as the universal rational principle of creativity and design by philosophers like Heraclitus and the Stoics. and they revered this concept. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius saw logos as the intelligent omnipotent and omnipresent Divine force that structured and guided all of existence.  But for the Jews the WORD only meant Torah and their relationship to the Word was the fulfillment of the Law.   So John in his Gospel would have deeply offended and insulted the Greeks and the Romans by declaring that Jesus, a bearded Galilean, was the one and only LOGOS. And for the Jews calling him the Word (their Torah) claim meant that he was the fulfillment of the law. so they all despised Jesus. And today the world despises Jesus.  The Bible says that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word (Logos) of God which lives and abides forever (1Peter 1:23). This is not only Jesus as the logos seed of eternal life but also as the Word of God as Scripture. *     Today the world believes that the Word, both as Jesus and as Scripture doesn't mean anything. There exists a cultural spirituality where the word Universe is used as if it was the source of creative design and blessing – The Universe be with you. Spiritual does not just mean mystical as opposed to material. Cultural spirituality can include reverencing created things and concepts and reading as many books or doing as many rituals possible to heal our souls. In the same way it also includes the religious and legalistic Christianity practiced today- and this mindset is soulish rather than spiritual. But for many people this kind of soulish spirituality has been a pathway to ultimately being drawn into true spirituality. True spirituality is the things of the Spirit of God in Christ (1Corinthians 2). This is the reality of the Creator God as the Father sending his Son Jesus into the world as human. In doing this God joined Divinity to humanity in one person, Jesus, whose death and resurrection and ascension led to the formation of a New Creation born of both human and Divine seed (logos). *Paul even put the church in Corinth in the category of cultural spirituality and his admonishment still applies to the church today.  We began today with the words of Paul to the Corinthians in (1 Corinthians 2:13).The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned.  Paul was addressing the people of the Corinthian church, not just worldly religious spirituality. Paul was dismayed at the lack of true spirituality amongst them. He said they were psychikos- soulish, not pneumatikos – spiritual. He admitted that they had all knowledge and were upfront in spiritual gifts(1 Corinthians 1:7) but he finally said to them  I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal (sarkikos –that is worse than psychikos!), as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal?     God has sent us the Holy Spirit through Jesus, the second Adam, for the healing and salvation of the soul in God's presence. We can choose to become spiritual (pneumatikos ) people or remain soulish (psychikos) people. The simplest way to experience being transformed from soulish to spiritual is to give ourselves to the work of  the Holy Spirit in times of presence prayer to reveal to us Jesus as the Logos Word who speaks his Word to us in a multitude of ways, both in Scripture and in other ways that only the Holy Spirit can teach us and not other people's opinions (1John 2:27). We set aside time in presence prayer to contemplate the love and mercy and power of God in this way, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveal to us the will of the Father. The more we consciously do this practice the more our true genesis spiritual self becomes renewed in our minds and in our hearts. The veil of separation that blinds our minds and hearts is taken away and our souls become transformed.    Paul OSullivan  -  pauloss@me.com           PRESENCE PRAYER SOUL AND SPIRIT     The journey of our lives as human beings with a spirit and a soul involves the reordering of the psychikos or soulish self of separation back into alignment with our true spiritual self in Christ through the Spirit of God. We can become transformed from psychikos or soulish to pneumatikos or spiritual. Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.   And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit because they are `spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:13)   Adam and Eve started that journey by creating a limited human soul.   The first man Adam became (ginomai) a living soul (psychikos) the last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit (pneumatikos). But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural psychikos), and then the spiritual.  (1Corinthians 15:45)   God had created Adam's body from the dust of the earth and then breathed his spirit into that body. Adam now had a created body and a created spirit but then the Bible says a really interesting thing - that ‘man became a living soul'. That word ‘became ‘in the Greek is ginomai, and it means to cause to come into being, to make or create. God did not form a ready-made soul in us, but he created the capacity for us to shape a soul as a personal entity that was to become the expression of who we are in our inner being. That's becomes the face of us. Our soul expresses the mind and heart of our unique God created spirit through the journey of our life, embodied by a physical body.    Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God, and they created blameless or innocent souls. Innocence means to not be harmed or hurt – not feeling forsaken. But harm and hurt and forsakenness came into Adam and Eve's lives through the lie of the serpent. Satan in the form of the serpent deceived them into believing that God had deprived them of the Divine wisdom that they could have if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve then created souls that separated their true blameless selves from God's presence. Harm and hurt came into their lives and they became harmful and hurtful people and turned their harmless souls into harmful souls by creating protective helper parts in their souls to avoid feeling forsaken again. These soulish parts created a mindset and a heart-set of separation between them and God. This process became the universal human journey of the soul throughout its life.   Our souls are the expression of our spiritual self but our souls have created an inferior version of OUR spiritual self because of the psychikos soul's self-serving needs. It has created parts to it that helped us to get over the problems, to deal with rejection, to advance itself, to be able to establish a reputation, to feel a victim or to be successful. It has become the me-self version of what the God with us self was created to be – God with us – Emmanuel. When we were very young we made immature decisions in our souls to protect us from having to suffer from these early traumas again. Don't condemn yourself for doing that as you had no option. You were there as a me-self person not knowing that God was there with you. and you didn't say ‘Lord come and help me here'. We tried to work out a way to work through these things - and we created strategies that ended up not having the wisdom to actually work. We created ‘helper parts' in our souls. We may have gotten our own way but look what those helper parts have done to our relationships, self worth - our lives. This has resulted in our spirits becoming ‘orphaned'. Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans but that he would send us ‘Another Helper' the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16-18)   The individual uniqueness of every person mirrors the fact that we have each been created with a unique spiritual DNA. That spiritual DNA is contained in the spiritual seed of life of the Word (the Logos) that has spoken our spiritual life into being in eternity. That seed word was destined to be expressed from our spirit into and through our soul and embodied by us as a whole person, spirit soul and body. The journey is about our soul being reordered, not deleted. James 1:21… receive with meekness the implanted word (logos seed), which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural (genesis) face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.   Genesis in the Greek means original. So our Genesis self is the original unique spiritual self, designed and created by God's word (LOGOS) before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). We discover in the mirror of the Word our true unique spiritual self then we walk away and forget that and get drawn back into expressing our psychikos soulish self again with all its unresolved helper parts.   That unique spirit is waiting to be expressed in a saved and healed soul, saved from what we have plunged our souls into because of a mindset of separation from God. That is why we are looking at presence prayer as a pathway of hope and faith and love back into what our souls could truly express as we draw near to God and ask for the Holy Spirit, our New Helpe,r to reveal to us what Jesus is saying to us and what our Father is doing for us. Jesus is that LOGOS, the seed of life that encompasses the true DNA of everything created, every instinctive response of every living thing designed and upheld by LOGOS (Hebrews 1:3) and his logos seed has been sown into our unique spirit to make us one in Spirit with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (1Peter 1:23)   John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made The Greek logos was seen as the universal rational principle of creativity and design by philosophers like Heraclitus and the Stoics. and they revered this concept. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius saw logos as the intelligent omnipotent and omnipresent Divine force that structured and guided all of existence.  But for the Jews the WORD only meant Torah and their relationship to the Word was the fulfillment of the Law.   So John in his Gospel would have deeply offended and insulted the Greeks and the Romans by declaring that Jesus, a bearded Galilean, was the one and only LOGOS. And for the Jews calling him the Word (their Torah) claim meant that he was the fulfillment of the law. so they all despised Jesus. And today the world despises Jesus.  The Bible says that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word (Logos) of God which lives and abides forever (1Peter 1:23). This is not only Jesus as the logos seed of eternal life but also as the Word of God as Scripture. *     Today the world believes that the Word, both as Jesus and as Scripture doesn't mean anything. There exists a cultural spirituality where the word Universe is used as if it was the source of creative design and blessing – The Universe be with you. Spiritual does not just mean mystical as opposed to material. Cultural spirituality can include reverencing created things and concepts and reading as many books or doing as many rituals possible to heal our souls. In the same way it also includes the religious and legalistic Christianity practiced today- and this mindset is soulish rather than spiritual. But for many people this kind of soulish spirituality has been a pathway to ultimately being drawn into true spirituality. True spirituality is the things of the Spirit of God in Christ (1Corinthians 2). This is the reality of the Creator God as the Father sending his Son Jesus into the world as human. In doing this God joined Divinity to humanity in one person, Jesus, whose death and resurrection and ascension led to the formation of a New Creation born of both human and Divine seed (logos). *Paul even put the church in Corinth in the category of cultural spirituality and his admonishment still applies to the church today.  We began today with the words of Paul to the Corinthians in (1 Corinthians 2:13).The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned.  Paul was addressing the people of the Corinthian church, not just worldly religious spirituality. Paul was dismayed at the lack of true spirituality amongst them. He said they were psychikos- soulish, not pneumatikos – spiritual. He admitted that they had all knowledge and were upfront in spiritual gifts(1 Corinthians 1:7) but he finally said to them  I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal (sarkikos –that is worse than psychikos!), as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal?     God has sent us the Holy Spirit through Jesus, the second Adam, for the healing and salvation of the soul in God's presence. We can choose to become spiritual (pneumatikos ) people or remain soulish (psychikos) people. The simplest way to experience being transformed from soulish to spiritual is to give ourselves to the work of  the Holy Spirit in times of presence prayer to reveal to us Jesus as the Logos Word who speaks his Word to us in a multitude of ways, both in Scripture and in other ways that only the Holy Spirit can teach us and not other people's opinions (1John 2:27). We set aside time in presence prayer to contemplate the love and mercy and power of God in this way, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveal to us the will of the Father. The more we consciously do this practice the more our true genesis spiritual self becomes renewed in our minds and in our hearts. The veil of separation that blinds our minds and hearts is taken away and our souls become transformed.    Paul OSullivan  -  pauloss@me.com                           PRESENCE PRAYER SOUL AND SPIRIT     The journey of our lives as human beings with a spirit and a soul involves the reordering of the psychikos or soulish self of separation back into alignment with our true spiritual self in Christ through the Spirit of God. We can become transformed from psychikos or soulish to pneumatikos or spiritual. Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.   And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit because they are `spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:13)   Adam and Eve started that journey by creating a limited human soul.   The first man Adam became (ginomai) a living soul (psychikos) the last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit (pneumatikos). But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural psychikos), and then the spiritual.  (1Corinthians 15:45)   God had created Adam's body from the dust of the earth and then breathed his spirit into that body. Adam now had a created body and a created spirit but then the Bible says a really interesting thing - that ‘man became a living soul'. That word ‘became ‘in the Greek is ginomai, and it means to cause to come into being, to make or create. God did not form a ready-made soul in us, but he created the capacity for us to shape a soul as a personal entity that was to become the expression of who we are in our inner being. That's becomes the face of us. Our soul expresses the mind and heart of our unique God created spirit through the journey of our life, embodied by a physical body.    Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God, and they created blameless or innocent souls. Innocence means to not be harmed or hurt – not feeling forsaken. But harm and hurt and forsakenness came into Adam and Eve's lives through the lie of the serpent. Satan in the form of the serpent deceived them into believing that God had deprived them of the Divine wisdom that they could have if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve then created souls that separated their true blameless selves from God's presence. Harm and hurt came into their lives and they became harmful and hurtful people and turned their harmless souls into harmful souls by creating protective helper parts in their souls to avoid feeling forsaken again. These soulish parts created a mindset and a heart-set of separation between them and God. This process became the universal human journey of the soul throughout its life.   Our souls are the expression of our spiritual self but our souls have created an inferior version of OUR spiritual self because of the psychikos soul's self-serving needs. It has created parts to it that helped us to get over the problems, to deal with rejection, to advance itself, to be able to establish a reputation, to feel a victim or to be successful. It has become the me-self version of what the God with us self was created to be – God with us – Emmanuel. When we were very young we made immature decisions in our souls to protect us from having to suffer from these early traumas again. Don't condemn yourself for doing that as you had no option. You were there as a me-self person not knowing that God was there with you. and you didn't say ‘Lord come and help me here'. We tried to work out a way to work through these things - and we created strategies that ended up not having the wisdom to actually work. We created ‘helper parts' in our souls. We may have gotten our own way but look what those helper parts have done to our relationships, self worth - our lives. This has resulted in our spirits becoming ‘orphaned'. Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans but that he would send us ‘Another Helper' the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16-18)   The individual uniqueness of every person mirrors the fact that we have each been created with a unique spiritual DNA. That spiritual DNA is contained in the spiritual seed of life of the Word (the Logos) that has spoken our spiritual life into being in eternity. That seed word was destined to be expressed from our spirit into and through our soul and embodied by us as a whole person, spirit soul and body. The journey is about our soul being reordered, not deleted. James 1:21… receive with meekness the implanted word (logos seed), which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural (genesis) face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.   Genesis in the Greek means original. So our Genesis self is the original unique spiritual self, designed and created by God's word (LOGOS) before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). We discover in the mirror of the Word our true unique spiritual self then we walk away and forget that and get drawn back into expressing our psychikos soulish self again with all its unresolved helper parts.   That unique spirit is waiting to be expressed in a saved and healed soul, saved from what we have plunged our souls into because of a mindset of separation from God. That is why we are looking at presence prayer as a pathway of hope and faith and love back into what our souls could truly express as we draw near to God and ask for the Holy Spirit, our New Helpe,r to reveal to us what Jesus is saying to us and what our Father is doing for us. Jesus is that LOGOS, the seed of life that encompasses the true DNA of everything created, every instinctive response of every living thing designed and upheld by LOGOS (Hebrews 1:3) and his logos seed has been sown into our unique spirit to make us one in Spirit with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (1Peter 1:23)   John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made The Greek logos was seen as the universal rational principle of creativity and design by philosophers like Heraclitus and the Stoics. and they revered this concept. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius saw logos as the intelligent omnipotent and omnipresent Divine force that structured and guided all of existence.  But for the Jews the WORD only meant Torah and their relationship to the Word was the fulfillment of the Law.   So John in his Gospel would have deeply offended and insulted the Greeks and the Romans by declaring that Jesus, a bearded Galilean, was the one and only LOGOS. And for the Jews calling him the Word (their Torah) claim meant that he was the fulfillment of the law. so they all despised Jesus. And today the world despises Jesus.  The Bible says that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word (Logos) of God which lives and abides forever (1Peter 1:23). This is not only Jesus as the logos seed of eternal life but also as the Word of God as Scripture. *     Today the world believes that the Word, both as Jesus and as Scripture doesn't mean anything. There exists a cultural spirituality where the word Universe is used as if it was the source of creative design and blessing – The Universe be with you. Spiritual does not just mean mystical as opposed to material. Cultural spirituality can include reverencing created things and concepts and reading as many books or doing as many rituals possible to heal our souls. In the same way it also includes the religious and legalistic Christianity practiced today- and this mindset is soulish rather than spiritual. But for many people this kind of soulish spirituality has been a pathway to ultimately being drawn into true spirituality. True spirituality is the things of the Spirit of God in Christ (1Corinthians 2). This is the reality of the Creator God as the Father sending his Son Jesus into the world as human. In doing this God joined Divinity to humanity in one person, Jesus, whose death and resurrection and ascension led to the formation of a New Creation born of both human and Divine seed (logos). *Paul even put the church in Corinth in the category of cultural spirituality and his admonishment still applies to the church today.  We began today with the words of Paul to the Corinthians in (1 Corinthians 2:13).The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned.  Paul was addressing the people of the Corinthian church, not just worldly religious spirituality. Paul was dismayed at the lack of true spirituality amongst them. He said they were psychikos- soulish, not pneumatikos – spiritual. He admitted that they had all knowledge and were upfront in spiritual gifts(1 Corinthians 1:7) but he finally said to them  I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal (sarkikos –that is worse than psychikos!), as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal?     God has sent us the Holy Spirit through Jesus, the second Adam, for the healing and salvation of the soul in God's presence. We can choose to become spiritual (pneumatikos ) people or remain soulish (psychikos) people. The simplest way to experience being transformed from soulish to spiritual is to give ourselves to the work of  the Holy Spirit in times of presence prayer to reveal to us Jesus as the Logos Word who speaks his Word to us in a multitude of ways, both in Scripture and in other ways that only the Holy Spirit can teach us and not other people's opinions (1John 2:27). We set aside time in presence prayer to contemplate the love and mercy and power of God in this way, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveal to us the will of the Father. The more we consciously do this practice the more our true genesis spiritual self becomes renewed in our minds and in our hearts. The veil of separation that blinds our minds and hearts is taken away and our souls become transformed.    Paul OSullivan  -  pauloss@me.com                     PRESENCE PRAYER SOUL AND SPIRIT     The journey of our lives as human beings with a spirit and a soul involves the reordering of the psychikos or soulish self of separation back into alignment with our true spiritual self in Christ through the Spirit of God. We can become transformed from psychikos or soulish to pneumatikos or spiritual. Paul wrote about this to the church in Corinth.   And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit because they are `spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:13)   Adam and Eve started that journey by creating a limited human soul.   The first man Adam became (ginomai) a living soul (psychikos) the last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit (pneumatikos). But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural psychikos), and then the spiritual.  (1Corinthians 15:45)   God had created Adam's body from the dust of the earth and then breathed his spirit into that body. Adam now had a created body and a created spirit but then the Bible says a really interesting thing - that ‘man became a living soul'. That word ‘became ‘in the Greek is ginomai, and it means to cause to come into being, to make or create. God did not form a ready-made soul in us, but he created the capacity for us to shape a soul as a personal entity that was to become the expression of who we are in our inner being. That's becomes the face of us. Our soul expresses the mind and heart of our unique God created spirit through the journey of our life, embodied by a physical body.    Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God, and they created blameless or innocent souls. Innocence means to not be harmed or hurt – not feeling forsaken. But harm and hurt and forsakenness came into Adam and Eve's lives through the lie of the serpent. Satan in the form of the serpent deceived them into believing that God had deprived them of the Divine wisdom that they could have if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve then created souls that separated their true blameless selves from God's presence. Harm and hurt came into their lives and they became harmful and hurtful people and turned their harmless souls into harmful souls by creating protective helper parts in their souls to avoid feeling forsaken again. These soulish parts created a mindset and a heart-set of separation between them and God. This process became the universal human journey of the soul throughout its life.   Our souls are the expression of our spiritual self but our souls have created an inferior version of OUR spiritual self because of the psychikos soul's self-serving needs. It has created parts to it that helped us to get over the problems, to deal with rejection, to advance itself, to be able to establish a reputation, to feel a victim or to be successful. It has become the me-self version of what the God with us self was created to be – God with us – Emmanuel. When we were very young we made immature decisions in our souls to protect us from having to suffer from these early traumas again. Don't condemn yourself for doing that as you had no option. You were there as a me-self person not knowing that God was there with you. and you didn't say ‘Lord come and help me here'. We tried to work out a way to work through these things - and we created strategies that ended up not having the wisdom to actually work. We created ‘helper parts' in our souls. We may have gotten our own way but look what those helper parts have done to our relationships, self worth - our lives. This has resulted in our spirits becoming ‘orphaned'. Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans but that he would send us ‘Another Helper' the Holy Spirit. (John 14:16-18)   The individual uniqueness of every person mirrors the fact that we have each been created with a unique spiritual DNA. That spiritual DNA is contained in the spiritual seed of life of the Word (the Logos) that has spoken our spiritual life into being in eternity. That seed word was destined to be expressed from our spirit into and through our soul and embodied by us as a whole person, spirit soul and body. The journey is about our soul being reordered, not deleted. James 1:21… receive with meekness the implanted word (logos seed), which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural (genesis) face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.   Genesis in the Greek means original. So our Genesis self is the original unique spiritual self, designed and created by God's word (LOGOS) before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4). We discover in the mirror of the Word our true unique spiritual self then we walk away and forget that and get drawn back into expressing our psychikos soulish self again with all its unresolved helper parts.   That unique spirit is waiting to be expressed in a saved and healed soul, saved from what we have plunged our souls into because of a mindset of separation from God. That is why we are looking at presence prayer as a pathway of hope and faith and love back into what our souls could truly express as we draw near to God and ask for the Holy Spirit, our New Helpe,r to reveal to us what Jesus is saying to us and what our Father is doing for us. Jesus is that LOGOS, the seed of life that encompasses the true DNA of everything created, every instinctive response of every living thing designed and upheld by LOGOS (Hebrews 1:3) and his logos seed has been sown into our unique spirit to make us one in Spirit with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (1Peter 1:23)   John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made The Greek logos was seen as the universal rational principle of creativity and design by philosophers like Heraclitus and the Stoics. and they revered this concept. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius saw logos as the intelligent omnipotent and omnipresent Divine force that structured and guided all of existence.  But for the Jews the WORD only meant Torah and their relationship to the Word was the fulfillment of the Law.   So John in his Gospel would have deeply offended and insulted the Greeks and the Romans by declaring that Jesus, a bearded Galilean, was the one and only LOGOS. And for the Jews calling him the Word (their Torah) claim meant that he was the fulfillment of the law. so they all despised Jesus. And today the world despises Jesus.  The Bible says that we have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word (Logos) of God which lives and abides forever (1Peter 1:23). This is not only Jesus as the logos seed of eternal life but also as the Word of God as Scripture. *     Today the world believes that the Word, both as Jesus and as Scripture doesn't mean anything. There exists a cultural spirituality where the word Universe is used as if it was the source of creative design and blessing – The Universe be with you. Spiritual does not just mean mystical as opposed to material. Cultural spirituality can include reverencing created things and concepts and reading as many books or doing as many rituals possible to heal our souls. In the same way it also includes the religious and legalistic Christianity practiced today- and this mindset is soulish rather than spiritual. But for many people this kind of soulish spirituality has been a pathway to ultimately being drawn into true spirituality. True spirituality is the things of the Spirit of God in Christ (1Corinthians 2). This is the reality of the Creator God as the Father sending his Son Jesus into the world as human. In doing this God joined Divinity to humanity in one person, Jesus, whose death and resurrection and ascension led to the formation of a New Creation born of both human and Divine seed (logos). *Paul even put the church in Corinth in the category of cultural spirituality and his admonishment still applies to the church today.  We began today with the words of Paul to the Corinthians in (1 Corinthians 2:13).The natural (psychikos – soulish) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually (pneumatikos) discerned.  Paul was addressing the people of the Corinthian church, not just worldly religious spirituality. Paul was dismayed at the lack of true spirituality amongst them. He said they were psychikos- soulish, not pneumatikos – spiritual. He admitted that they had all knowledge and were upfront in spiritual gifts(1 Corinthians 1:7) but he finally said to them  I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal (sarkikos –that is worse than psychikos!), as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal?     God has sent us the Holy Spirit through Jesus, the second Adam, for the healing and salvation of the soul in God's presence. We can choose to become spiritual (pneumatikos ) people or remain soulish (psychikos) people. The simplest way to experience being transformed from soulish to spiritual is to give ourselves to the work of  the Holy Spirit in times of presence prayer to reveal to us Jesus as the Logos Word who speaks his Word to us in a multitude of ways, both in Scripture and in other ways that only the Holy Spirit can teach us and not other people's opinions (1John 2:27). We set aside time in presence prayer to contemplate the love and mercy and power of God in this way, and Jesus and the Holy Spirit reveal to us the will of the Father. The more we consciously do this practice the more our true genesis spiritual self becomes renewed in our minds and in our hearts. The veil of separation that blinds our minds and hearts is taken away and our souls become transformed.    Paul OSullivan  -  pauloss@me.com                                                  

Daily Boost Podcast Show Notes Are You Actually A Stoic? September 24, 2025 | Episode 5189 Host: Scott Smith Episode Description Life's been crazy since 300 BC, and guess what? Nothing's changed. Scott dives into whether you're already practicing stoicism without knowing it. Politics, economy, people driving you nuts - sound familiar? The ancient Stoics dealt with the same stuff, and their practical approach might be exactly what you need. This isn't some dusty philosophy lesson. It's a coffee shop conversation about handling life's daily chaos with a clear head and reasonable expectations. Featured Story Picture Scott realizing he's been thinking like a Stoic without even knowing it. He's looking around at all the craziness - politics, economy, people being annoying - and having this lightbulb moment. Wait, this is exactly what folks dealt with in 300 BC. Same problems, same human nature, same need for practical solutions. The kicker? Most of us are already doing some of this Stoic stuff naturally. We just don't realize we're tapping into ancient wisdom that actually works. It's like discovering you've been speaking French your whole life and didn't know it. Important Points Stop enslaving yourself to annoying people - Stoics never leash themselves to toxic folks, and neither should you. Choose reasonable expectations - Your brain works better when you're actually realistic about what's coming. Feel your emotions, don't be guided by them - They're your power when you use them right, not when they use you. Memorable Quotes "Do you enslave yourself to annoying people? Because if you do, you're not stoic." "You are a dog tied to the back of a cart. And it's a very long leash on the back of that cart." "Life is not too short. Actually, the days are sometimes way too long." Scott's Three-Step Approach Check your expectations - Ask yourself if what you're expecting is actually reasonable before you get frustrated. Feel the emotion, then think - Let yourself experience what you're feeling, then use your brain to decide what to do about it. Remember the long leash - You've got free will within life's bigger plan, so use it wisely. Connect With Me Search for The Daily Boost on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Email: support@motivationtomove.com Main Website: https://motivationtomove.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/dailyboostpodcast Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/motivationtomove Facebook Group: https://dailyboostpodcast.com/facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1633, Galileo Galilei was condemned by the Roman Inquisition for teaching that the Earth revolves around the Sun. His defiance became a symbol of individual conscience against powerful institutions. On this episode of The Chris Spangle Show, we explore the history of individualism versus collectivism — from Socrates to the Stoics, from Christianity and the Reformation to Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke and John Stuart Mill, and into the American founding. We also explore libertarian principles of ethical individualism, free speech, and personal responsibility, contrasting them with the dangers of conformity, censorship, and control inherent in collectivism. What you'll learn in this episode: Galileo's trial and its impact on science and freedom How Christianity and the Reformation shaped individualism The Enlightenment's role in liberty and natural rights Ethical individualism vs. collectivist control Why libertarians defend conscience, speech, and voluntary cooperation ⁠https://youtu.be/q3Y7zGmoYaA⁠ 00:00 Galileo vs. the Inquisition 01:49 The Rise of Heliocentrism 02:42 Courage, Individualism, & Libertarianism 03:33 What Is Individualism? Key Concepts 06:07 From Tribes to Individuals: History 07:36 Greek, Christian, and Enlightenment Roots 09:39 Individualism in America 10:39 Ethical Individualism Explained 13:39 Modern Challenges: Speech & Responsibility 15:31 Voluntary Association and Libertarianism 17:59 Political Individualism and Freedom 21:12 Collectivism vs. Individualism 24:03 Government Power and Group Identity 27:01 Case Study: Hong Kong's Freedom Lost 28:59 Pros and Cons of Each Approach 30:06 Christian Critiques of Individualism 33:55 Expressive Individualism vs. Community 37:00 Individualism in Faith and Society 40:46 Voluntary Cooperation vs. Forced Conformity 41:45 The American Founding: A Radical Shift 45:42 Why Conscience and Principles Matter 47:00 Cancellations, Tribalism, and Consistency 51:00 Embracing Courage and Individual Thought 53:11 Be an Individual, Not Just a Follower 54:10 Outro & Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism.In this Stoic Quotes episode, Benny reflects on the words of Marcus Aurelius from Meditations, Book 6.16:“And if you can't stop prizing a lot of other things, then you'll never be free.”Marcus reminds himself that true freedom is not found in wealth, possessions, or status—but in learning to stop attaching value to what lies outside our control. For the Stoics, freedom means self-sufficiency, tranquility, and being free from the passions that disturb the soul.Benny explores how this insight connects to the Discipline of Desire and the Stoic pursuit of eudaimonia—a flourishing life rooted in reason and virtue. Marcus, despite being emperor of Rome, knew the danger of craving more: it enslaves us to fortune and leaves us restless.Drawing connections to Epictetus' reminder that only our judgments and actions are truly ours, and Seneca's warnings about wasted time and attachments, this episode shows how the Stoic path to freedom is inward, not outward.Practical ReflectionsExamine what you prize most in life: are these things truly within your control?Practice gratitude for what you already have, instead of longing for what you lack.Remind yourself that all externals are on loan from fortune—when they leave, your character and choices remain.For more, check out this related article with quotes on freedom:https://viastoica.com/stoic-freedom/And if you're looking for more Stoic sayings, visit viastoica.com, where you'll find hundreds of quotes with full references to the original texts:https://viastoica.com/stoic-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/marcus-aurelius-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/epictetus-quoteshttps://viastoica.com/seneca-quotesMake sure to subscribe for more Stoic Quotes episodes every Friday, as well as our Tuesday interviews and longer discussions.Support the showhttps://viastoica.comhttps://viastoica.com/stoic-life-coachinghttps://viastoica.com/benny-vonckenhttps://x.com/ViaStoicainfo@viastoica.comProduced by: badmic.com

The British author and journalist Oliver Burkeman has spent decades pondering what it means to live a meaningful life, both in his former Guardian column “This Column WIll Change Your Life” and across several books—most recently, Meditations for Mortals, out in paperback this October. That's why he brings a healthy dose of skepticism to so-called “time management” systems and productivity hacks as a means toward true fulfillment. Burkeman's compelled by the notion that, rather than being separate from time, human beings are time. If people faced the reality of their limited time on the planet head on, he believes there's a real chance to experience greater, more engaged feelings of aliveness.On the episode—our Season 12 kick-off—Burkeman discusses why he's eschewing  perfectionism and finding unexpected liberation in the premise that, to some extent, the worst has already happened, and the best may still be ahead.Special thanks to our Season 11 presenting sponsor, Van Cleef & Arpels.Show notes:Oliver Burkeman[4:26] “Meditations for Mortals” (2024)[6:48] Donald Winnicott[7:46] Martin Heidegger[7:46] "Technics and Civilization" (2010)[7:46] “Being and Time” (1927)[7:46] “Time Warrior” (2011)[7:46] “Time Surfing” (2017)[7:46] “Anti-Time Management” (2022)[10:14] Medieval peasants[10:14] “The 4-Hour Workweek”[13:18] Alicja Kwade[19:23] “Ichi-go, ichi-e” (“one time, one meeting”)[22:00] Eckhart Tolle[22:36] Agnes Martin[23:28] “The Road Not Taken”[40:03] “This Column Will Change Your Life”[51:00] Nicholas Carr[51:00] Clay Shirky[53:40] Jennifer Roberts[59:04] Pomodoro Technique [59:13] Kanban[1:01:33] James Hollis[1:02:40] Alfred Adler[1:02:40] “The Courage to Be Disliked” (2024)[1:06:24] Stoicism

We once had Stoics in high office. We had Stoics making important decisions. We're a long way from that today, aren't we?

Practical ways to lead a good life.  Kieran Setiya is the Peter de Florez Professor of Philosophy at MIT, where he works on ethics and related questions about human agency and human knowledge. He is the author of Midlife: A Philosophical Guide and Life Is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way. He also maintains a Substack newsletter, Under the Net. In this episode we talk about: How Kieran became interested in practical philosophy (and philosophy more generally) A brief history of philosophy  The connection between philosophy and self-help Whether Buddhism is a philosophy? The upside of missing out (as opposed to FOMO)  Kieran's mild beef with the Stoics techniques for dealing with grief and loss  Why living well is not the same as feeling happy The connection between Plato, Aristotle and contemporary influencers today  How to deal with physical adversity  Navigating failure  Kieran's case for meditation  Operationalizing the cliché of “enjoying the process” rather than the outcome How to deal with the injustices of the world Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel   On Sunday, September 21st from 1-5pm ET, join Dan and Leslie Booker at the New York Insight Meditation Center in NYC as they lead a workshop titled, "Heavily Meditated – The Dharma of Depression + Anxiety." This event is both in-person and online. Sign up here! Get ready for another Meditation Party at Omega Institute! This in-person workshop brings together Dan with his friends and meditation teachers, Sebene Selassie, Jeff Warren, and for the first time, Ofosu Jones-Quartey. The event runs October 24th-26th. Sign up and learn more here! SPONSORS: Bumble: Thinking about dating again? Take this as your sign and start your love story on Bumble.    AT&T: Staying connected matters. That's why AT&T has connectivity you can depend on, or they will proactively make it right. Visit att.com/guarantee for details. Function: Our first 1000 listeners get a $100 credit toward their membership. Visit www.functionhealth.com/Happier or use the gift code Happier100 at signup to own your health. To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero's work, On The Nature Of The Gods, which critically examines Epicurean, Stoic, and Skeptic perspectives on matters of theology and cosmology Specifically it focuses upon the presentation of Stoic cosmology and theology by Quintus Lucilius Balbus in book 2, and in particular on his discussion of the Stoics' allegorical interpretation of earlier Greek myth, legend, and religion, which anthropomorphized the gods in ways that the Stoics thought irrational and unbefitting of divinity To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,500 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Cicero's On The Nature Of Gods - amzn.to/3JITSZc

We love control. We love our plans, our routines, and the feeling that we've got everything handled. But here's the hard truth: control is an illusion.In this episode of the 30 Days to Happiness Podcast, I unpack why clinging so tightly to outcomes often robs us of joy — and why letting go may be the key to more peace, purpose, and presence in your life.Together we'll explore:✨ What philosophy teaches us about control (and why the Stoics had it right)✨ How neuroscience proves that “holding on” triggers stress while “letting go” rewires the brain for clarity✨ The surprising role of faith and theology in learning to surrender✨ Practical, actionable steps you can use today to release control and find freedom✨ How high achievers can reframe control to unlock even deeper joy and creativityThis conversation is raw, real, and full of strategies you can apply right away — whether you're a high performer chasing big goals or simply someone ready to find more peace in the everyday chaos.

This lecture discusses key ideas from the ancient philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero's work, On The Nature Of The Gods, which critically examines Epicurean, Stoic, and Skeptic perspectives on matters of theology and cosmology Specifically it focuses upon the presentation of Stoic cosmology and theology by Quintus Lucilius Balbus in book 2, and in particular on his discussion of the various meanings that people in ancient times gave to the term "nature", rejecting certain of them and endorsing others of them. He also discusses why the world itself is something subject to nature as the Stoics understand it, and providentially ordered and arranged To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,500 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler Purchase Cicero's On The Nature Of Gods - amzn.to/3JITSZc

I'm packing me battered Rimowa suitcase for a trip to Liverpool, Belfast, and Dundalk, Ireland. No matter how organized we are while traveling, there's so much we can't control—flights, weather, menus, other people. But the Stoics, have plenty to say about what we can control on a vegan journey of any kind: our choices, our mindset, and our integrity.In this episode of Vedge Your Best, I revisit the Stoics and connect their wisdom to both vegan practice and my 30-day writing challenge. Because whether you're committing to a plant-based lifestyle, writing a book, or simply trying to live your values more fully—Stoic teachings are surprisingly relevant.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhy looking foolish might be the first step toward real progress.How to resist short-term pleasures in favor of long-term values.Why difficulties reveal your true strength, not your weakness.How honest effort counts more than perfectionism ever will.Resources & LinksEpictetus, Discourses and Selected WritingsFollow my vegan and writing journey at VeganAtAnyAge.comUntil next time — remember: it's never too late, and you're never too messy, to Vedge YOUR Best.Subscribe & Review:If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and share the message of plant-based living with more listeners.For more information, to submit a question or topic, or to book a free 30 minute Coaching session visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠veganatanyage.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠or email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@micheleolendercoaching.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music, Production, and Editing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Charlie Weinshank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For inquiries email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠charliewe97@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Virtual Support Services: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://proadminme.com/⁠

Philosophize This!: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday --------- Today we talk about the collection of journals known as Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. We mark the differences between Stoicism, modern Stoic ethics, and the journals of Marcus Aurelius. We talk about the divine logos, indifferents, and how metaphysical assumptions ladder up into the virtue ethics of the ancient Stoics. We talk about some of the context that Marcus was writing each of these journals in. All of this while trying to relay some of the biggest ideas that he wrote about. Hope you love it. :) Sponsors: Nord VPN: https://nordvpn.com/philothis Quince: https://www.QUINCE.com/pt ZocDoc: https://www.ZocDoc.com/PHILO Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help.  Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philosophizethis  Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophizethispodcast X: https://twitter.com/iamstephenwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophizethisshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the podcast on Stoicism.In this Stoic Quotes episode, Benny reflects on the words of Michel de Montaigne, the 16th-century French philosopher who pioneered the personal essay. In his famous essay To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die, Montaigne reminds us that the purpose of philosophy is not abstract speculation, but preparation for the ultimate change: death.Drawing from Cicero and Plato, Montaigne writes that true philosophers are always practicing how to die, because in facing death, we learn how to live. Benny explores how this idea connects with Stoic thought: Marcus Aurelius' meditations on constant change, Epictetus' reminder that death can find us at any moment, and the Stoic practice of using mortality as a guide to live with clarity and purpose.In this episode, you'll hear how contemplating death reduces fear, why practicing small farewells prepares us for life's biggest transition, and how journaling about mortality can help us live more gratefully in the present. Montaigne and the Stoics alike show us that learning to die well is inseparable from learning to live well.Perfect for anyone reflecting on death in philosophy, exploring Montaigne's essays, or seeking Stoic practices to cultivate peace and presence in daily life.You can also check out this post to learn more about how Marcus Aurelius reflected on death:

Today we talk about the collection of journals known as Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. We mark the differences between Stoicism, modern Stoic ethics, and the journals of Marcus Aurelius. We talk about the divine logos, indifferents, and how metaphysical assumptions ladder up into the virtue ethics of the ancient Stoics. We talk about some of the context that Marcus was writing each of these journals in. All of this while trying to relay some of the biggest ideas that he wrote about. Hope you love it. :) Sponsors: Nord VPN: https://nordvpn.com/philothis Quince: https://www.QUINCE.com/pt ZocDoc: https://www.ZocDoc.com/PHILO Thank you so much for listening! Could never do this without your help.  Website: https://www.philosophizethis.org/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philosophizethis  Social: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philosophizethispodcast X: https://twitter.com/iamstephenwest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/philosophizethisshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode I unpack the recent announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense is being renamed the Department of War — and why, from a Stoic perspective, that shift in language and intent is antithetical to virtue. I explore what a true warrior ethos looks like according to Stoic philosophy, why intentions matter more than branding or rhetoric, and how populist theatrics around power can easily drift away from justice and wisdom. Key takeaways from this episode include: — The Stoic warrior ethos is not about “maximum lethality” or offense, but about justice, self-control, wisdom, and courage in the face of conflict. — Words and names may be performative, but they reflect values — and the move from “defense” to “war” signals an embrace of ambition, anger, and cruelty rather than virtue. — Stoics judge the morality of military action by its intent: is it for justice and the common good, or for dominance and destruction? — Populist leaders often confuse performative strength with true moral strength; Stoics would remind us that virtue, not spectacle, is the real measure of power. — As Seneca reminds us, our task while we live is to practice humanity, not to be a terror to others. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a world where “more” is sold as the shortcut to happiness, the Stoics stood in stubborn, refreshing opposition.They argued that wealth, status, and praise, far from guaranteeing joy, often entangle us in new anxieties.This episode explores that ancient wisdom through voices from Plutarch and Seneca to George C. Scott, the Hollywood star who famously refused his Oscar.Along the way, we ask: if happiness can't be bought, bestowed, or voted on, what's left to shape it?

••• Resurrection Victory, Segment-1 of 2, Ep 397a . ••• Bible Study Verses: John 21.1-8, Philippians 4:4-7, 1 Corinthians 15:14-19, Isaiah 55.11 . ••• “Telling me that I must never, like the Stoics, say that death does not matter. Nothing is less Christian than that. Death which made Life Himself shed tears at the grave of Lazarus, and shed tears of blood in Gethsemane. This is an appalling horror; a stinking indignity”... C.S. Lewis viewed the Resurrection of Christ as the central, historical fact of Christianity, a "Grand Miracle" that introduced a new mode of being into the universe and provided the foundation for the Christian message. He argued it wasn't merely a spiritual resurrection but a physical one, a reversal of death into a state of new, physical existence, that transformed the Christian understanding of life and death and made possible the hope of future resurrection for believers. † ••• "Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection" † † ••• "To walk after the spirit a believer must inhibit his mind from revolving endlessly. If it turns too long around one topic, worries or grieves too much over matters, and ponders too intensively to know God's will, it may become unbearable and hamper its normal operation. The mind needs to be kept in a steady and secure state" Watchman Nee 1903-1972 † † ••• “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life", Romans 6:4, KJV . ••• Why did the disciples go fishing after the crucifixion? ••• What are the 3-life actions to prevent you from going back to your old ways? ••• What are 7-negative consequences of not knowing how to live a life of victory after the resurrection? ••• Why is it important for us to live in victory of when Christ rose up from the dead? ••• Pastor Otuno expounds on this and much more on the exciting journey of Fresh Encounter Radio Podcast originally aired on September 20, 2025 on WNQM, Nashville Quality Ministries and WWCR World Wide Christian Radio broadcast to all 7-continents on this big beautiful blue marble, earth, floating through space. Please be prayerful before studying The Word of God so that you will receive the most inspiration possible. ••• This Discipleship Teaching Podcast is brought to you by Christian Leadership International and all the beloved of God who believe in its mission through prayer and support. Thank you . ••• Broadcaster's Website - https://www.lifelonganointing.com/ . ••• Exceeding Thanks to Universe Creator Christ Jesus AND photo by Stacey Franco, https://www.instagram.com/staceyfranc0/, on unsplash, Art Direction by gil on his mac with free mac layout software . ••• Study Guides at - https://shows.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast/episodes . ••• SHARING LINK: https://shows.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast/250906-the-secret-behind-the-believers-dominion-p7-s1-ep397a . ••• † https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/reflections-april-2022/ , + GemAi Assist . ••• †† http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/Watchman-Nee-Quotes/ . Watchman Nee, Ni Tuosheng, or Nee T'o-sheng (Chinese: 倪柝聲; pinyin: Ní Tuòshēng) . ••• RESOURCE - https://www.soundcloud.com/thewaytogod/ . ••• RESOURCE - https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/kjv/john.1%20 . ••• FERP250906-Episode#397a GOT250906 Ep397a . ••• The Secret Behind the Believers Dominion, Part-7: Resurrection Victory, Segment-A . Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/fresh-encounter-radio-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Stoics understood that the boundary between "me" and "you" is thinner than we realize.

It's been generations upon generations now. For thousands and thousands of years, humans have been doing the same things, the Stoics observed. Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content coming soon: dailystoic.com/premium

In this episode I dig into the Stoic approach to diet and the perennial “should Stoics eat meat?” question. I lay out what “living in accordance with Nature” really means (Logos, not tree-hugging shorthand), why eating animals isn't inherently un-Stoic, and where our reasoning can go vicious—especially with industrialized, commodified animal agriculture. I also talk through practical ways contemporary Stoics can eat more justly without pretending to be sages or purists. Key takeaways from this episode include: — “According to Nature” = aligning choices with the Logos (the rational order of the cosmos), not suppressing feelings or chasing outcomes. — Eating meat is a Stoic indifferent; what matters is the reasoning and method behind it. Killing as part of a balanced, natural cycle can be compatible with virtue; factory-style exploitation is not. — Outcome-chasing (“ends justify the means”) isn't Stoic. We judge the justice of our choices, not their hoped-for results. — A sage-like pattern would be seasonal, mostly plant-forward eating, with animal products used thoughtfully and sparingly, sourced in ways that allow other beings to flourish. — Practical steps: favor small/ethical producers, reduce single-use indulgence, buy what you need, recycle/compost, and treat dining-out choices with awareness (while accepting we won't be perfect). — The real Stoic question isn't “meat or no meat?” but “Is how this food was produced—and why I'm choosing it—truly in accordance with Nature?” To learn more about Tanner, please visit https://tannerocampbell.com For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stoicism and libertarianism are two philosophical systems, which at first glance may not seem to have much in common, but Matt Kibbe caught up with Ryan Holiday, host of the "Daily Stoic," to attempt to find some common ground. The philosophy created by ancient Romans like Marcus Aurelius not only teaches us how to cope with adversity but also the importance of becoming the best version of ourselves and continuing to learn from others. In an era when everyone is an armchair philosopher with the ability to safely preach views from the comfort of X, it's useful to remember that we actually need to do the hard work, both to improve personally and to make the world a better place.

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the Podcast on Stoicism.In this episode of the Via Stoica Podcast, Benny explores the Stoic Discipline of Desire, one of the three core disciplines that guide us toward a calmer and more meaningful life.In a world where everything we want is just a buy button away and social media constantly tempts us to compare ourselves with others, Stoicism offers a way out. Instead of chasing external goals like wealth, status, or possessions, the Stoics teach us to redirect our desires inward, toward virtue, peace of mind, and harmony with nature.Drawing from Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and later Roman Stoics, Benny explains why unchecked desire leads to anxiety and dissatisfaction, and how suppressing or redirecting desire can create true freedom. You'll hear about practical Stoic exercises such as pausing before impulses, practicing gratitude, journaling about wants and aversions, and realigning your goals with virtue.If you've ever wondered how to stop craving more and start living with enough, this episode will give you the tools to begin. For more on this topic, see the full guide:

In this episode, I dive deep into one of Epictetus's striking passages: “As a target is not set up for the archer to miss it, so there is no intrinsic evil that exists in the world.” At first glance, it's an odd way to phrase things—but hidden within is a Stoic lesson on victimhood, agency, and what it truly means to be free.We live in a culture that often glorifies the victim mentality, and while injustices undeniably exist, the Stoics remind us that our character—not our circumstances—is what defines us. Epictetus himself, once a literal slave, rejected the label of victim. Why? Because virtue is the only good, and no external force—not chains, not poverty, not betrayal—can rob us of our ability to choose our response.Join me as I explore what it means to step out of the victim mindset, how to recognize when we're subtly slipping into it in our daily lives, and why the world is not out to get us. The target is just there—it's up to us to take our aim.

In this episode, I dive deep into one of Epictetus's striking passages: “As a target is not set up for the archer to miss it, so there is no intrinsic evil that exists in the world.” At first glance, it's an odd way to phrase things—but hidden within is a Stoic lesson on victimhood, agency, and what it truly means to be free.We live in a culture that often glorifies the victim mentality, and while injustices undeniably exist, the Stoics remind us that our character—not our circumstances—is what defines us. Epictetus himself, once a literal slave, rejected the label of victim. Why? Because virtue is the only good, and no external force—not chains, not poverty, not betrayal—can rob us of our ability to choose our response.Join me as I explore what it means to step out of the victim mindset, how to recognize when we're subtly slipping into it in our daily lives, and why the world is not out to get us. The target is just there—it's up to us to take our aim.

We've all had those moments where an insult or offhand comment sticks in our head. Hours later, we're still replaying it, wishing we'd come up with the perfect comeback. But what if the strongest response isn't a clever line at all?In this episode, I explore what the Stoics – and even a surprising scene from Gladiator 2 – can teach us about handling insults and keeping our peace of mind. You'll hear:Why chasing the “upper hand” keeps us stuck.How Epictetus, a former slave turned philosopher, framed the danger of being ruled by our emotions.A personal story about how even a small, everyday slight can get under our skin – and what to do about it.Practical tools to stay grounded when you feel like punching someone.***I'm your host, Sarah Mikutel, a communication and mindset coach. My work is about helping people like you share your voice, strengthen your relationships, and have more fun.As an American expat living in the U.K., I value curiosity, courage, and joy. A few things I love: wandering European streets in search of the best vegetarian meal, practicing Italian, and helping my clients design lives that feel rich and meaningful.If you're ready to have conversations that open doors – in your career, your relationships, and your life – let's talk.***Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

In this episode I explore the Stoic perspective on the environment — how we should think about our roles and responsibilities toward nature, and whether caring for the natural world is a Stoic duty or an indulgence in trying to control what we cannot. Along the way, I share examples of real-world environmental issues, discuss the balance between regulation and freedom, and outline some practical ways we can each live “according to Nature” in our daily lives. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Asking “What would the Sage do?” helps us check our impulses and aim for wiser decisions about environmental responsibility. — For Stoics, the environment is not just scenery — it is literally part of Nature (capital N), the divine order of the cosmos, and therefore worthy of our care. — Global warming and climate breakdown are indifferents, but how we choose to respond to them can be virtuous or vicious. — Individual action matters, even if small, but systemic issues like over-commercialization and corporate pollution require collective attention and regulation. — Living according to Nature means balancing gratitude for what we already have with responsible choices that support sustainability and justice. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, the Podcast on Stoicism.In this Stoic Quotes episode, Benny reflects on Epictetus' words from Discourses 3.9:“You too should drop your desire. Do not covet many things and you will get what you want.”For Epictetus, the path to freedom and peace begins with the discipline of desire. We often chase after externals — wealth, success, recognition — only to find ourselves restless and unsatisfied. The more we want, the less content we feel. But when we align our desires with what is truly up to us, namely virtue and right action, we discover lasting satisfaction.In this episode, Benny unpacks how Epictetus connects unchecked desire to frustration, anger, and fear, while showing that virtue is the only secure object of desire. You'll hear how the Stoics distinguished between healthy wishes and destructive passions, and why letting go of unnecessary wants is the key to freedom.Perfect for anyone exploring Epictetus's quotes on desire, the Stoic discipline of desire, and practical philosophy for living a more grounded life.In the Stoic Quotes series, we explore timeless wisdom from Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and more — discovering what they meant then and how we can live them today. In this episode, Benny connects Epictetus' insight to the daily struggle of ambition, the need for role clarity, and the courage to choose virtue over externals.If you are looking for more quotes like this one, visit viastoica.com. We have hundreds of Stoic sayings with full references, so you can find them in the original texts or use them in your own reflections.

Why do we believe a good life is a life without pain? This episode challenges our deepest assumptions about happiness and hardship. We're diving into the philosophical goldmine that is the value of suffering—not to glorify pain, but to understand its incredible power to forge growth, wisdom, and meaning. From the ancient Stoics to modern psychology, we'll explore how embracing life's inevitable challenges can transform us, deepen our connections, and turn our scars into a source of incredible strength. Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about your own struggles. To unlock full access to all our episodes, consider becoming a premium subscriber on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. And don't forget to visit englishpluspodcast.com for even more content, including articles, in-depth studies, and our brand-new audio series and courses now available in our Patreon Shop!

Updating your perspective on the world can, for some, be like seeing for the first time. Many of us have seen videos of colorblind people getting access to new tech that helps them see the full spectrum. When they tap in for the first time, it's overwhelming and emotional. Something true shines through a veil that they've been burdened with forever. I remember when I started to reconnect with my faith several years ago, and things were becoming clearer to me about who I am and why I am here. I would get distracted while driving by trees and landscapes. Particularly Japanese Maples and other crimson trees mixed into mostly green gardens. Something was more striking about everything. Refined Jedi Sight Consider this poem out of the Star Wars universe about the role of the Jedi Order in bringing balance to the galaxy."First comes the dayThen comes the night.After the darknessShines through the light.The difference, they say,Is only made rightBy the resolving of grayThrough refined Jedi sight."― Journal of the Whills, 7:477It's a beautiful stanza. Light is reality. Darkness is equally valid and inevitably enters the world, complicating whatever light came before it. What confounds so many of us is when the canvas then turns gray. Complex experiences and feelings stop us in our tracks.Am I loved?What is the right thing to do here?Somebody gets hurt, no matter what I choose.We overthink. We ache.You need a worldview, something that reconciles or can be used to interpret what you're experiencing. Glasses. Philosophy. Story. Philosophy is in many ways a kind of story. The danger is, of course, that not all glasses reveal tru th equally. The Jedi, this poem suggests, have refined sight or an ability to interpret what's happening.You might call that wisdom.How We Label ThingsJ.R.R. Tolkien wrote in his celebrated essay, On Fairy Stories, about the role of a good story in illuminating the world for its audience. He called it “recovery” in the sense that our vision and health have been compromised. A good story heals.Separating himself almost directly from the Stoics, Tolkien quipped, “I do not say ‘seeing things as they are' and involve myself with the philosophers,” which is what Marcus Aurelius or Epictetus would call for. “I might venture to say,” Tolkien continues, “seeing things as we are (or were) meant to see them.”Geeky Stoics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The Stoics had a dogmatic commitment to blunt reality and practiced it by doing things like calling wine “the mere juice of crushed grapes,” so as not to romanticize what it's called for commercial purposes. Steak is a piece of dead cow, scorched and salted. That's the “truth”. Dead Scorched Cow is a little less appealing for 12oz at $45 than calling it Premium Aged Ribeye Steak.“We need, in any case, to clean our windows; so that the things seen clearly may be freed from the drab blur of triteness or familiarity—from possessiveness,” Tolkien adds.Whether it's eyeglasses, windows, or stained glass, the idea that unites so many great thinkers is that something exists outside of the room we're living in. There is something we're missing, and either smudges, a faulty prescription, or the absence of light is preventing us from seeing what we're supposed to see on the other side.Truth. Beauty. Purpose. Design.Overexposure and familiarity dull the senses to what would otherwise take our breath away.The Stoic mindset, though it has a lot to offer, has some pitfalls, including this one. Aurelius refers to sex as just “friction between bodies — followed by a convulsion”. Okay…..He's trying to deter himself from lust by demystifying sex and pointing out some of its peculiar and unattractive realities. That may have some utility, but it's cold, and sex, like Tolkien might suggest, is meant to be something far more powerful, warm, and beautiful than this. The triteness and overfamiliarity Tolkien describes is also a good way to think about pornography and what it does to the viewer over time. Clean your windows from the “drab blur”. Have you ever seen Mount Rainier just beyond Seattle, Washington? It's a wonder. The mountain stands so tall and grand that on a clear day, it's like an alien spaceship landing on the horizon. The first few times you lay eyes on it, particularly if you're not from that mountainous region, you'll do a double-take.How is that real?Let's return to the issue of the steak. What if the answer is neither the Stoic insight, that it's merely a charred strip of animal flesh, nor is it this thing we excitedly call steak? What if it's just sustenance, nourishment, and a gift deserving of gratitude?That is the perspective most of us are missing every single day. It's not “Thank you Lord, for this ham, eggs, and sourdough,” it's actually, “Thank you Lord, for this bounty.”Call the food whatever you want to call it, but what matters most at the end of the day is the value you attach to it. It's a pretty good value to consider your meal a blessing and to be grateful for it. Has gratitude ever steered a person wrong? New on YouTube This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.geekystoics.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Via Stoica Podcast, The Podcast on Stoicism.In this episode of The Via Stoica Podcast, Benny speaks with Dr. John Sellars, one of today's leading scholars of Stoicism and the history of philosophy. Dr. Sellars is Reader in the History of Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, Associate Editor for the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series at King's College London, and a founding member of both Modern Stoicism and the Aurelius Foundation. He has authored and edited numerous works, including Stoicism (recently revised), Stoicism and Emotion, and The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius.Our conversation traces Dr. Sellars' journey from his early fascination with science and politics to his lifelong study of ancient philosophy. We explore how the Stoics carried forward the legacy of Socrates in a way that feels both practical and deeply human, and why their materialist, empiricist outlook resonated more with him than Plato's metaphysical idealism. Dr. Sellars reflects on how philosophy has shaped his own life, from changing his views on free will to cultivating a “big picture” perspective that keeps ego and ambition in check.The discussion ranges widely: from common misconceptions about Stoicism, such as that it is unemotional, politically disengaged, or only for men, to the role of community in mental health, and the tension between Stoic determinism and ideas of God, providence, and nature. We also dive into Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, examining why the book endures, how Marcus grappled with death and difficult people, and why we should see him not as a perfect sage but as a flawed human being struggling to live well.Dr. Sellars also shares insights into his ongoing projects, including new research on Stoicism and leadership (with Justin Stead of the Aurelius Foundation), and his work with psychologists at Royal Holloway testing Stoic practices in peer-reviewed studies on resilience, anxiety, and anger.Whether you are new to Stoicism or looking to go deeper into its history and modern applications, this episode offers both scholarly depth and practical wisdom for living a good life.You can find Dr. Sellars' books, including the revised edition of Stoicism and The Cambridge Companion to Marcus Aurelius, through major booksellers. To learn more, visit the Aurelius Foundation or the Center for the Study and Application of Stoicism at Royal Holloway.Support the show⁠https://viastoica.com⁠https://viastoica.com/stoic-life-coaching⁠https://viastoica.com/benny-voncken⁠https://viastoica.com/brendan-hogle⁠https://x.com/ViaStoica⁠info@viastoica.com⁠Produced by: ⁠http://badmic.com

Send us a textJoin your host Clifton Pope as he is back with another solocast as The Spiritual Enlightment Series is back for the August 2025 edition!In the Spiritual Enlightment Series, It is all about exploring the harmonizing essence of all religions in a series dedicated to unveiling the spiritual insights that bind humanity together!In this month's edition, Clifton breaks down the concept of wisdom through humility by explaining how true wisdom is characterized by goodness, kindness, and mercy plus how true strength lies in humility!Clifton also dives into the importance of putting on the armor of God to take on their own demons that they are battling to end their struggle. By doing so, we learn to fight our true enemy with the weapons the most high GOD provided for us. Not to mention, Clifton Pope shows how the Quran, Buddha, Stoics, and Bible share the same views on wisdom through humility.Hit that follow/subscribe button on Apple/Spotify Podcasts/Rumble so you don't miss a single episode of the show!Follow Clifton Pope on all social media platforms belowFacebook-Clifton Pope or Health Fitness Wealth BusinessInstagram- @cpope_44Tiktok-@healthfwealthb.cpYoutube-@healthfitnesswealthbusines8726Rumble-@CPHFWB44Visit https://buymeacoffee.com/cphfwb to support the show with a friendly donation(purchase of a cup of coffee) with your choice of 3 tiers with exclusive benefits in each tier with all proceeding going towards the HFWB Podcast Series!Visit https://elevate-holistics.com/ and use the code: HFWB to get 20% off your medical marijuana card online in minutes, hassle-free.Leave a rating/review to help grow the show as it truly helps in reaching more like-minded individuals become empowered with information/resources provided by Clifton Pope and all guests involved with the show!Thank you for the love and support!Support the showhttps://athleticism.com/HEALTHFWEALTHB https://coolgreenclothing.com/HEALTHFITNESSWEALTHBUSINESS https://normotim.com/HEALTHFIT https://www.portablemeshnebulizer.com/pages/collab?dt_id=2573900official affiliates of the HFWB Podcast Series Please support the mission behind each product/services as it helps grow the HFWB Podcast Series to where the show can continue to roll along!

In this episode I reflect on the idea of responsibility through the lens of Spider-Man's famous question, “What if it is my job?” I talk about how we can discern whether something really falls to us or not, how our roles and duties guide those decisions, and why happiness isn't the point of life for a Stoic — virtue is. Along the way, I share thoughts on gut reactions, role-based reasoning, and how we can both accept where we are and still strive for better. Key takeaways from this episode include: — Stoics should be cautious of following gut or heart impulses, since these are often driven by immediate emotions rather than reason. — Our roles in life (parent, spouse, citizen, friend, etc.) help determine whether something “is our job” or not, and when no role obligates us, we can weigh whether new responsibilities can be taken on justly. — Happiness is not about external circumstances but about who we are; contentment and striving can coexist when both are approached with justice and gratitude. For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're doing better than it sometimes feels. Let us marvel at the cooperation that is possible—considering the flawed and petty humans it depends on.

The Stoics remind us that time, especially the time we're healthy and able to actually enjoy life, is our most valuable resource. But knowing that isn't enough.

St. Michael, Religions and violence, the need for dogmas and more on Called to Communion with Dr. David Anders.

Tim and Steve explore the enduring power of words, reflecting on the wisdom of historical religious figures like Buddha, Christ, and Muhammad, along with Seneca and other Stoics. They discuss history's peaks of enlightenment, the lasting truth found in the written word — especially the Bible — and the importance of seeking light and wisdom in a world often filled with disorder.

It's only fools who fly off the handle, it's the immature who say the first thought that pops into their head, it's the irresponsible who act without thinking.

Samuel Parker, author of Good Anger: How Rethinking Rage Can Change Our Lives, argues that suppressing anger fuels anxiety and that society's overcorrection toward placidity has blunted a vital emotion. He traces its demotion from the Stoics to corporate HR, separates it from violence, and shows how to channel it into productive action. Plus, Donald Trump tries to deal with peace, and in the Spiel, the CDC shooting in Atlanta prompts a pushback against claims that misinformation draws a straight line to murder—and a reminder that individual responsibility can't be outsourced to bad facts. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thegist@mikepesca.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠ad-sales@libsyn.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://advertising.libsyn.com/TheGist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_bh0wHgk2YfpKf4rg40_g⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GIST INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The Gist List at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Pesca⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

In this episode I explore how Stoic principles apply to the controversial and often emotionally charged topic of immigration. Using the Circles of Concern as a framework, I examine why Stoics must care for all members of the Cosmopolis, even when cultural differences challenge us. I also break down why preserving culture “at all costs” is un-Stoic, and how moral reasoning—not fear, nationalism, or rigid legality—should guide immigration policy and enforcement. Real-world examples, from COVID-era mask debates to refugee scenarios, help illustrate how Stoic justice differs from legal justice and why discernment is essential. Key takeaways from this episode include: Stoicism calls us to care for everyone in the Cosmopolis, even when differences exist, but requires reasoned discernment about how to act in distant circles of concern Preserving culture “at all costs” is not Stoic; the only pursuit worth that cost is perfect moral knowledge Stoic justice is based on moral reasoning and context, not on strict adherence to law or partisan ideology For an ad-free version of this podcast please visit https://stoicismpod.com/members For links to other valuable Stoic things, please visit https://links.stoicismpod.com If you'd like to provide feedback on this episode, or have question, you may do so as a member. Email sent by non-members will not be answered (though they may be read). This isn't punitive, I just cannot keep up. Limiting access to members reduces my workload. You're always invited to leave a comment on Spotify, member or not. Thanks for listening and have a great day! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever thought about the worst-case scenario in your life and how it could actually help you succeed? In this episode, I'll show you the power of negative visualization (also known as defensive pessimism) and why visualizing failure can give you clarity, reduce anxiety, and prepare you for success. Are you ready to stop procrastinating and break your bad habits? If so, I just opened the doors to Mindset 2.0—my full system to help you break through fear, rewire your identity, and follow through like never before. Click here

Despair is so easy, even reasonable in moments like this. The Stoics knew that feeling well.

The Stoics were human. Most great men and women were. If they were made of stone, what would there be to admire?