The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius

“The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue.” —MUSONIUS RUFUS, LECTURES, 2.7.1–2

Acceptance isn’t passive.

“Nothing is noble if it’s done unwillingly or under compulsion. Every noble deed is voluntary.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 66.16b

most powerful elite in Rome, would have seen this dynamic play out quite vividly. Nero, the student whose excesses Seneca tried to curb, killed not only his own mother and wife but eventually turned on Seneca, his mentor, too.

“The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.6

As one addict put it, addiction is when we’ve “lost the freedom to abstain.” Let us reclaim that freedom. What that addiction is for you can vary: Soda? Drugs? Complaining? Gossip? The Internet? Biting your nails? But you must reclaim the ability to abstain because within it is your clarity and self-control.

Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own …”

“Each person acquires their own character, but their official roles are designated by chance. You should invite some to your table because they are deserving, others because they may come to deserve it.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 47.15b

If real self-improvement is what we’re after, why do we leave our reading until those few minutes before we shut off the lights and go to bed? Why do we block off eight to ten hours in the middle of the day to be at the office or to go to meetings but block out no time for thinking about the big questions? The average person somehow manages to sque