“Goodness in other people naturally arouses our affection and friendship, not because it’s of some material advantage to us, but because it’s the mirror image of our own potential for virtue, and so loved for its own sake. For instance,… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Loving your fate and joyful acceptance Epictetus actually describes a three-stage process to his students, which relates to the discipline of desire. He begins… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“According to the Stoics therefore a man is free if his desires are not thwarted. However, if we only desire what is within our… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“It was a famous Stoic ‘paradox’ that the Sage is believed to be absolutely free, even when imprisoned or exiled by a powerful tyrant.… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“The Stoics, by contrast, believed that we are essentially social creatures, with a ‘natural affection’ and ‘affinity’ for all people. This forms the basis… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“As social beings, it is in our relationships that we have most opportunity to flourish. Indeed, the Stoics argued that our own self-interest, as… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“your choices themselves are the consequences of a massive string of causation, set in motion countless billions of years before you were even born,… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“The Sage desires only one thing, virtue, and he is cautious about only one thing, vice. He is the same in every circumstance because… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Epictetus actually says all the enmity between people is down to a single judgement of this kind, they ‘put themselves and what belongs to… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Wild beasts run away from dangers when they see them. Once they have escaped, they are free of anxiety. But we are tormented by… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Goodness in other people naturally arouses our affection and friendship, not because it’s of some material advantage to us, but because it’s the mirror… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Even if we’ve never met them in person but only heard about them in stories, we are drawn to the wise and good, and… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“the famous Hymn to Zeus written by Cleanthes said: ‘The willing are led by fate, the reluctant dragged’.” — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“The majority of people pursue friendship for mutual advantage, in terms of ‘indifferent’ things such as wealth or reputation but this is not the… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
“Whether we realize it or not, we are all living out the lives fated for us, either willingly or reluctantly. Zeno illustrated this with… — Donald J. Robertson Copy Share Image
