Mental Health | Peter "Just Loves Flying"

The way to to have the best life ever according to Epictetus

June 25, 2018

Many thanks to the Daily Stoic for sharing

The way to to have the best life ever according to Epictetus was simple. “Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would,” he wrote, “but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will be serene.” Friedrich Nietzsche built off the Stoics 1800 years later when he defined his formula human greatness as Amor Fati.

“That one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backwards, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it….but love it.”

Amor Fati translates to “a love of fate.” Instead of wishing for things to be different, to be better, you wish them to be as they are, embrace them and make everything you can out of them. A weaker person needs things to be a certain way. The truly unstoppable person loves it all because it’s fuel for them…

Always Room to Improve

January 30, 2018

Daily Stoic

Thanks to Daily Stoic for sharing…

Epictetus reminds us: “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

He tells us that this is the “first task” of philosophy: to get rid of our preconceptions, to do away with the dogmas we have in our heads. Be humble. Be open to things you don’t know, or things that challenge what you do know.

Emerson talked about the advantage of a life of humility in his memorable line: “In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him.”…

Humility is an easy virtue to talk about—and a much harder one to put into practice. We don’t want to seem stupid. We don’t like saying, “I don’t know” or “You might have a point.” Harder still: “Maybe I’m wrong? Maybe I have more to learn?” But it’s this attitude that leads to change and improvement. So give it a try. You can’t get better if you think you’re superior.