The Manual: A Philosopher's Guide to Life

If you find yourself acting to impress others, or avoiding action out of fear of what they might think, you have left the path. Find satisfaction in following your philosophy. If you want to be respected, start by respecting yourself.

When you desire something outside your sphere of power, you set yourself up for disappointment. But it is within your power to avoid disappointment, by directing your desires to things that are rightfully yours to obtain and control. If you wish to be free, do not desire anything that depends on another, lest you make them your master.

Whatever your vocation, pursue it wholeheartedly. Consider, choose, and commit.

When you are feeling upset, angry, or sad, don’t blame another for your state of mind. Your condition is the result of your own opinions and interpretations. People who are ignorant of philosophy blame others for their own misfortunes. Those who are beginning to learn philosophy blame themselves. Those who have mastered philosophy blame no one.

Remind yourself, “What upsets this person is their opinion of what has happened. Another in the same circumstance, taking a different perspective, would react quite differently.”

If you wish to have peace and contentment, release your attachment to all things outside your control.

Whenever distress or displeasure arises in your mind, remind yourself, “This is only my interpretation, not reality itself.” Then ask whether it falls within or outside your sphere of power. And, if it is beyond your power to control, let it go.

If someone tried to take control of your body and make you a slave, you would fight for freedom. Yet how easily you hand over your mind to anyone who insults you. When you dwell on their words and let them dominate your thoughts,

Stoicism doesn’t mean repressing emotion and shunning pleasure, I learned, but—in essence—focusing on what is in our power and letting go of everything we can’t control.