What do you want from your life? Rather than encouraging us to contemplate such deeper questions, modern culture seems to offer an endless stream of distractions, allowing us to successfully evade them. Our contemporary society not only lacks those famous ancient academies of philosophy, but is almost entirely devoid of any relevant living tradition of wisdom.
As William B. Irvine contends in his A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, such an absence may constitute a grave oversight. Without a compelling philosophy of life, we risk drifting aimlessly in the tumultuous waters of ceaseless change, wrestling with waves of fleeting desire yet never finding fulfilment. In spite of our tireless striving, we may one day reach the end of our lives only to discover we have squandered our precious time. Thus, it is imperative to revive the ancient teachings on the art of living well. Irvine urges us to consider resurrecting, above all, the often-misunderstood philosophical system of Stoicism.
Stoicism in a Nutshell
Stoicism, in its essence, strives for a well-lived life through the disciplined practice of rational virtues, seeking to cultivate both inner tranquillity and enduring joy. By refining our capacity to think with clarity and impartiality, we learn to align our lives with the laws of nature. Through the cultivation of self-control and inner strength, we can mitigate the impact of destructive emotions—such as anger, grief, disappointment, and anxiety—yielding greater serenity and delight in our circumstances. Eminently practical and based on keen human observation, Stoicism offers concrete strategies to confront the daily disruptions to our serenity, and endeavours to train us in contentment with what we already possess.
It is true, therefore, that Stoicism—at least to a certain extent—upholds a somewhat fatalistic worldview. It recognises that many of our relentless pursuits and accomplishments do not contribute to lasting fulfilment. Furthermore, it acknowledges that a considerable portion of life’s events lie beyond our control. Accordingly, it suggests that our primary sources of unhappiness stem from unchecked desires and an irrational tendency to dwell in disappointment. Consequently, the art of living involves honing our internal faculties, rendering our happiness independent of external circumstances. Echoing Descartes’ wisdom in his Discourse on Method, Stoicism advocates conquering ourselves rather than fortune, changing our desires instead of attempting to change the world, and believing that nothing except our own thoughts rests wholly within our control.
Perhaps, then, Stoicism may be viewed—especially in a modern interpretation—as a remedy for a pervasive ailment: the growing sense of diminished control over our own destiny. Yet, far from being “a philosophy for losers,” Stoicism can enrich our lives both in times of prosperity and, perhaps more profoundly, during adversity and change. Stoic joy, it turns out, is not a fleeting sentiment, but a continuous practice—a way of living grounded in duty and fortified character.
That said, much of Stoic wisdom, as Irvine asserts, may appear foreign to modern readers. Our contemporary “philosophy of life” tends to be much simpler: a) identify all our desires; b) formulate a plan to satisfy as many as possible; c) execute. Many of these desires are simplistically framed in terms of external goods—material acquisitions, money, or status—leading to a relentless pursuit of wealth and power. Stoicism challenges such an approach, positing that for every external desire we satisfy, a new one emerges, ensuring perpetual discontent. Moreover, fate will often obstruct our path with obstacles, thwarting our meticulously devised plans. To truly take responsibility for our lives, then, we must harness our natural rationality—not yield to our desires, but master them. Instead of incessantly seeking new things, we must learn to cherish what we already have. As Marcus Aurelius once quipped, the art of living is much more akin to wrestling than to dancing!
The 20 Best Practices of Stoic Wisdom
(Based on a review of William B. Irvine’s “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy”)
Irvine’s book offers a highly pragmatic and accessible exploration of fundamental Stoic principles and practices. Meticulously outlining a multitude of techniques, he argues persuasively that Stoicism equips individuals with the necessary tools to navigate life’s trials and tribulations and find lasting happiness, all while underscoring its relevance to our modern world. Synthesising his suggestions with his recommended further readings, here is my personal summary of best practices for “Stoic living”:
Embodying Virtues as the Ultimate Good: Genuine happiness arises from living a virtuous life, in harmony with the natural order of the universe. This necessitates aligning actions and attitudes with reason and practicing the Stoic virtues of wisdom, courage, justice, and self-discipline. By nurturing these virtues, we redirect our attention and valuable time toward what matters most—our growth and character—thus establishing the foundation of a meaningful existence.
Mastering Our Desires: Chasing pleasure is akin to “pursuing a wild beast”; once captured, it often becomes our captor. To attain harmony and enduring contentment, we must tame our insatiable desires and ensure that “our mind is not slave to the body’s whims and pleasures.” Fame and fortune, and many other pleasures, are not worth pursuing. We should simplify our desires and recognise that the more pleasures we pursue, the more masters we serve. Stoics suggested decomposing our passions into their parts to reveal their true worth: wine is nothing but “fermented grape juice,” fashionable attire is “the wool of sheep,” and sex, well, “friction and ejaculatory discharge.”
Practicing Mindfulness and Tranquillity: Full engagement with the present—avoiding fixation on past regrets or future worries—equips us to confront daily challenges with clarity and composure. Recognising that external circumstances have no power over our emotions unless we allow them to enables us to achieve greater inner peace.
Fostering Wisdom and Rational Self-Examination: We must learn to become both participant and spectator, observing ourselves in our daily activities. Gradually gaining insight into our thoughts and emotions empowers us to regulate them. Regular reflection on our responses to life’s events enables us to increasingly align ourselves with Stoic values.
Stoic Journaling and Continuous Self-Improvement: Documenting how successfully we apply Stoic principles in daily life allows us to celebrate progress and learn from both positive and negative experience. Slowly, we refine our understanding and practice, thus becoming better at practicing how to be a good human being.
Internalising Our Goals: Discontent often stems from irrational behaviour. People ignore what is truly valuable and instead focus on acquiring fleeting fame and fortune—the former enslaving us to the opinions of others, the latter being ephemeral due to continual hedonic adaptation. Redirecting our focus from external status and possessions to inner development will ensure lasting satisfaction. The pursuit of self-improvement is not a battle with others, but a competition with our “other self”—that part of our personality that is still lazy, undisciplined, cowardly, or confused. Our goal is to master ourselves. Of course, how we set internal goals will also affect external performance, but above all, it dramatically impacts our emotional state.
Resilience in Face of Adversity: Our cherished possessions are akin to “leaves on a tree, ready to drop when a breeze blows.” We must always bear in mind the transient nature of life—everything we hold is but a loan from capricious fortune, liable to be reclaimed without our permission or advance notice. Contemplating hardship and the potential loss of what we most value—including our loved ones and material wealth—fosters an appreciation of, and active engagement with, the present. This practice, known as Negative Visualisation, diminishes our desires for other things and reduces attachment to material goods, strengthening our resilience and capacity for inner tranquillity in difficult times. “He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.”
Embracing Our Mortality (Memento Mori): Contemplating our mortality, we come to appreciate the ephemeral nature of our existence and reorient our priorities toward what truly matters. As we prepare for the inevitability of death, we savour the vitality of existence and infuse each day with new purposeful activity. The goal is not to alter what we do, but to transform our state of mind while pursuing our daily work.
Enjoying Our Possessions at Arm’s Length: Unlike Skepticism, Stoicism does not advocate asceticism; it endorses modest living rather than self-inflicted hardship. While we may enjoy affluence, we must never cling to it. We should be master of our blessings, not the slave of fortune’s gifts. “The man who adapts himself to live on a little sum is the truly rich man.” Even as we revel in abundance, we should always contemplate its potential loss and remain unassuming in the perceptions of others.
Practicing Purposeful Discomfort: Periodic self-imposed discomfort—abstaining from certain pleasures or material possessions—reduces dependency on consumerism and external sources of joy. “True contentment arises from within,” by mastering our desires. By intentionally leaving our comfort zone and making things worse than they really are, we enhance resilience and diminish reliance on unnecessary external gratification.
Refraining from Worrying About the Uncontrollable: Understanding the so-called Dichotomy of Control clarifies our priorities: simply, “some things are up to us, and some are not.” We must realise that happiness and yearning for the unattainable are incompatible. Fixating on uncontrollable factors will disrupt our tranquillity, even if we eventually attain them. A pivotal choice in life is whether to expend energy on external circumstances or internal well-being. Recognising our power over thoughts, beliefs, values, and actions—versus the lack of control over events and others—enables us to focus on inner contentment rather than changing the world. Similarly, acknowledging that past events and present moments are beyond our control renders anxiety futile.
Exercising Disciplined Dissent: Our judgments mould our emotional response. We must scrutinise our interpretation and only grant assent to those congruent with reason and virtue. Capricious impulses devoid of rational authority should never sway us, nor should our responses betray undue emotional disturbance in those we engage with.
Defusing Anger: Our world brims with opportunities for anger. Unless we learn to control it, we will be perpetually upset. While venting anger might feel satisfying, it seriously jeopardises inner tranquillity. Understanding anger’s triggers and defusing them is key. When angry, we should practice relaxation—forcing ourselves to relax our facial expression, soften our voice, slow our pace—so as to regain inner serenity. Moreover, Stoicism suggests much anger is about vulgar trivialities. We should pause to consider the cosmic (in)significance of our irritation. We often get angry about things we cannot influence; here, it might help to imagine ourselves as a character in an absurdist play. Things are not supposed to make sense, and people aren’t supposed to be competent. Hence, rather than be angered by events we cannot change, we should persuade ourselves to laugh at their absurdity.
Navigating Righteous Anger: Even when we are right, our anger often serves no purpose. Frequently, circumstances elude our influence, rendering righteous anger futile. Eventually, we only hurt ourselves. Sometimes imagining adverse events befalling others rather than ourselves can dilute resentment. For instance, if someone breaks an object we treasure, we might imagine it was someone else’s object in someone else’s house—we would likely be less inclined to be upset. We must also practice caution when punishing others in righteous anger; it often proves counterproductive. We should never punish as retribution, but for the other’s good—to deter recurrence. Punishment, in other words, should never be an expression of righteous anger, but of rational caution.
Preparedness for Grief: Grief is an irrational contraction of the soul and must be curbed through gratitude for life’s gifts. Rather than mourning losses, we should be thankful for what we have experienced. In all proper grief, we must always guard affectionate sentiment against spiralling (self-)sorrow. We often harbour “if only” thoughts—e.g., if only we had spent more time with someone lost. Yet it is irrational to load grief with guilt. The only way to avoid such sentiments is to treasure those around us while we have them, practicing virtue and mindfulness.
Loving All Mankind and Fostering Compassion: Stoics advocate contributing positively to society and fulfilling social roles. Recognising our shared humanity and interconnectedness, we should live with others in mutually advantageous ways. Genuine love, goodwill, and compassion for those destiny has placed around us is vital. We should honour our parents, be agreeable to friends, and be concerned for the interests of our countrymen and humanity at large.
Nurturing Genuine Friendships (and Engaging Socially with Caution): It is essential to select friends wisely; corrupt values might corrupt ourselves. Genuine friendships must hinge on mutual respect and foster personal growth and virtue. In general dealings, it is prudent to assume certain behavioural patterns: people offer immense joys like love and friendship, but also disrupt our peace. People do not choose their faults, and patience is warranted. Indifference to others’ opinions—both approval and disapproval—is key. Shame should be reserved for genuine faults, and we must dismiss others’ low opinions on lesser matters. Speculating over what others might do, say, think, or scheme is fruitless.
Engaging with Insults Gracefully: When engaging with others, we must tolerate criticism and handle insults with grace. We should never be upset by remarks from those we do not value. Rather than feel hurt, we should be relieved when those we disapprove of disagree with us. Stoics recommend responding to insults with self-deprecating humour. When criticised, we might reply that matters are even worse than alleged: if accused of laziness, we might say it is a miracle we get any work done; if accused of egotism, that it’s noon before we realise others exist. Using humour defuses anger and shows the insulter we have sufficient confidence to be impervious to insult. Responding thus becomes a social game that increases resilience. We are only harmed if we let ourselves be.
Embracing the Natural Order (Amor Fati): Deeply acknowledging the interconnectedness of all things and the inevitability of change as part of a rational universal order, we must embrace life’s unfolding events. We should want things to happen exactly as they do. Amor fati urges us to welcome both positive and negative occurrences as avenues for growth and learning. Living every day as if it were our last, we are set free from the fear of death and pointless rumination.
Cultivating Stoic Joy: Seneca tells his friend Lucilius that if he wishes to practice Stoicism, he must “learn how to feel joy.” Stoic Joy, the pinnacle of Stoicism, emanates from delight in our own resources and circumstances—it is anchored in the pursuit of excellence and transcends fleeting pleasures or external goods. Stoic joy can be described as objectless enjoyment: inner serenity resulting from virtuous living. It is not enjoyment of any particular thing, but of “all this”—a delight in our capacity to fully participate in life.
An Interesting Book with Some Flaws
What else to say about the book? Irvine’s aim is to deliver a practical guide to Stoicism for modern readers, a goal he partly achieves. Spanning some 300 pages, A Guide to the Good Life offers a captivating overview of the rise and fall of ancient Stoicism, with many references to Roman philosophers. The bulk of the book, however, delves into a thorough exposition of Stoic teachings and practices, culminating in a final section of personal learnings and reflections. The text brims with intriguing facts and practical insights. However, it frequently adopts a highly subjective tone, shifting from teaching to personal reflection and discourse, verging at times on an ‘apologia pro vita sua’. Repetition and verbosity occasionally mar its flow.
Critically, the book lacks an in-depth analysis of Stoicism, beyond the commonplace assertion that it is often misunderstood, and provides little philosophical contextualisation in relation to other systems, except for some superficial hints at Buddhism. It would be useful, for example, to compare Stoic concepts with Aristotelian virtue ethics, Christian tradition, or Kantian deontology. Moreover, while extensively discussing passions and desires, the book fails to integrate insights from modern developmental or moral psychology regarding the systematic challenges of personal development, identity construction, and moral emotions such as grief and anger.
Finally, the absence of deeper metaphysical or cosmological aspects of Stoicism leaves the book vulnerable to being read as another superficial self-help manual. Stoic apathia and ataraxia can become simplistic techniques for a hasty withdrawal from an uncontrollable world—as if, unable to conquer the complexity around us, we might as well settle for taming ourselves. The deeper significance of virtues and the broader Stoic deontology for societal betterment thus remain mostly obscure and underdeveloped. That said, the book’s final chapter shines, as Irvine reflects on his own practical experiences and successes with “stealthy Stoicism”.
In sum, while there is more to be said both for and against a Stoic philosophy, the book remains a compelling and practical introduction for anyone seeking to better understand the ancient wisdom of Stoicism.
Defending All Philosophy
Will I therefore adopt Stoicism myself? Personally, I find the Stoic emphasis on handling adversity and tempering emotions and desires valuable—especially in our postmodern ‘age of anxiety’, where our power over destiny is so often limited. Nonetheless, the somewhat pessimistic perspective and overly rationalised worldview of Stoicism does not fully resonate with me. I hold that friendship and community, despite their obvious ambiguities, are values in and for themselves. Commitment to justice must transcend mere duty. And life itself, as Nietzsche so powerfully noted, would lose some of its beauty if we solely cherished Apollo, neglecting Dionysus.
But for what it’s worth, I fully concur with William: while it would be nice to have evidence that Stoicism is the one and only “correct” philosophy, such proof is bound to remain elusive. In seeking to live as well as we can, errors are inevitable—and we may err in either embracing or rejecting any philosophy. Yet, as William aptly observes, the greatest error is having no philosophy of life at all. As the ancient philosophers taught, it is hard to live a meaningful life if nothing is worth dying for. Here, William merits commendation as an academic who not only discusses philosophy theoretically, but also seeks to live it—steadfastly advocating his beliefs. In the final analysis, one truth prevails: without the willingness to commit, to stumble, and even to sacrifice, our path to authentic fulfilment remains uncertain and arduous.