I can’t stick to one book at a time. I found that reading multiple books simultaneously is a great hack for me, because you choose what to read based on your mood. It keeps things fun and somehow the ideas cross-pollinate. One book keeps me curious, the other keeps me grounded.
Recently, I picked up The Complete Guide to Stoicism. It’s not an easy read. Some paragraphs felt like walking in fog. I’d reread a paragraph three, four times, and still think, “hold on… what?”
What surprised me most wasn’t the difficulty, but the familiarity. Some ideas felt like old friends – principles I’d stumbled into on my own. Whether we learn it through life experiences or from reading, life gently nudges us toward …
I can’t stick to one book at a time. I found that reading multiple books simultaneously is a great hack for me, because you choose what to read based on your mood. It keeps things fun and somehow the ideas cross-pollinate. One book keeps me curious, the other keeps me grounded.
Recently, I picked up The Complete Guide to Stoicism. It’s not an easy read. Some paragraphs felt like walking in fog. I’d reread a paragraph three, four times, and still think, “hold on… what?”
What surprised me most wasn’t the difficulty, but the familiarity. Some ideas felt like old friends – principles I’d stumbled into on my own. Whether we learn it through life experiences or from reading, life gently nudges us toward Stoicism if we’re paying attention.
And then you learn Marcus Aurelius and Seneca wrote this stuff almost 2,000 years ago. Letters to Lucilius is roughly 62-65 AD. That’s older than most religions we see today.
I remember Nassim Taleb in his book Antifragile talking about “time-tested knowledge”. If a book survives centuries, it’s probably worth listening to. The market of time is harsh – no search engines, no social networks, just survival of the truest ideas.
Here are a few lines I underlined while reading:
- Time is our most precious asset. We toss it around like it’s infinite, but you should guard it more than money.
- Misfortune is training. Hardship actually builds character. When you’re young, it feels pointless and unfair, but life is testing you – trying to make you stronger. Change your attitude toward hardship: use obstacles as fuel.
- Deep friendships over many weak ones.
- Anger is poison. Control your emotions. I picked up one trick that works well: name the emotion, breathe, then release it – go for a walk, do some push-ups, whatever gets you moving.
- Death is natural. Death is natural. The classic memento mori – remember you’ll die. Accept it as part of how the world works.
- Everything passes. Fame, money, beauty, entire empires. Rome was invincible … until it wasn’t. It gives you perspective. The worst day? It will pass. Your best day? Also will pass. That’s strangely comforting.
- Duty above all Just do your role well – without applause. Be kind even when others are idiots. Help people. Don’t lose heart when others are difficult. Stoicism isn’t about hiding in a cave. It’s about showing up.
I guess that’s the broader insight. We don’t need “new” wisdom every month. The old stuff is still there. Tested against plagues, wars, collapsing empires, and personal tragedy. And still useful today, maybe even more than ever.
This is one of those rare books you keep coming back to. I usually read on Kindle, but this one I ordered as a physical copy – sometimes I just open it to a random page and reread one of the Letters to Lucilius.
Makes me wonder: if these ideas survived nearly two millennia, which of our ideas today will survive the next 100 years?