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Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: A Teach Yourself Guide

Donald Robertson · 2 HN comments
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Amazon Summary
An intelligent, authoritative resource that offers successful strategies for change, with engaging insights into the human condition This new guide to finding a happier way of life draws on the ancient wisdom of the stoics to reveal lasting truths and proven strategies for enhanced well-being. By learning what stoicism is, you can revolutionize your life, properly "seize the day," cope in the face of adversity, and come to terms with whatever situation you are facing. How the ancient wisdom of the Stoic philosophers can make you more resilient, more positive, more successful and more happy Written by a highly qualified author, counselor and therapist trainer Takes proven, age-old wisdom and applies it to practical modern-day situations
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Stoicism. Other than old works from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, you can also find modern stoic practitioners, Massimo Pigliucci and Donald Robertson (there are others, but these are the best at teaching IMO). Robertsons book has additional chapter you can find somewhere online on exercises for meditation on death. But it's better to read it after https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourse...

Edit. Here it is https://learn.donaldrobertson.name/p/the-stoic-contemplation...

GeorgeWBasic
Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for.
Feb 25, 2017 · FabHK on How to Be a Stoic
Here some great contemporary introductions to Stoicism:

1. William B. Irvine, "A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy", https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic/dp/0195...

This is an introduction to Stoic thought as it applies today by a professor in philosophy, very clearly written. Great for first exposure. It (sensibly) skips some of the more arcane stuff, such as Stoic metaphysics (historically relevant, but really obsolete).

2. Donald Robertson, "Stoicism and the Art of Happiness", https://www.amazon.com/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourself...

This is a touch more academic and historic on one hand, and very practical and text-book-like on the other hand, in that it has self-assessments, key points, exercises for every section. Excellent second book. The author also has a course, blog and FAQ at http://donaldrobertson.name

3. Epictetus' Enchiridion is available on Project Gutenberg, btw. It's very short, and many things are not really relevant today anymore, yet surprisingly many sections still "speak to us".

4. Note also that Tom Wolfe's huge novel "A Man in Full" is suffused with Stoic themes.

I find Stoicism quite wise, and still substantial enough when you subtract all the obsolete superstition (which cannot be said of, for example, Abrahamic religions). Certainly good for tranquility and empathy. Sometimes hard to translate into positive action, though, I find.

skrebbel
> (which cannot be said of, for example, Abrahamic religions)

Interesting thought! I'd say that "love thy neighbour" is a pretty substantial idea, albeit a "bit" less deep than the average stoic philosophy.

Did anyone try this? Take a religion like Christianity (or one interpretation of it) and remove all the deities and miracles? As an avid Christian who dislikes dogma even more than militant atheists, I'd love to dive into an attempt at this.

jungturk
Something akin to the Jefferson bible?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible

FabHK
That's awesome, didn't know about it.

Full text available online, about 20 printed pages.

Edited to add:

Here you can read it, facsimile of the original cut-and-paste (literally...) version by Jefferson. 84 pages, because it's in Greek, Latin, French and English. Love it.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/jeffersonbible/

Here's an ePub, if you want to put it on your ebook reader (note: possibly unsavoury site):

http://bookfi.net/book/1865049

FabHK
Hi, well, first I must admit that that by itself is not an original thought, of course. I've most recently read it in Sam Harris' Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion.

I've made the same comment (nothing original, as I said... :) elsewhere in this thread, and someone replied with the golden rule, maybe you want to read the discussion:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13731755

Elsewhere, the argument has been made that the miraculous parts of Christianity (virgin birth, resurrection, etc.) are largely not original, but collages of earlier prophets, though I couldn't point you to that literature off the top of my head, and it's not the point we're discussing anyways.

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