December 30th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Taking The Bite Out Of It

 "To bear trials with a calm mind

 robs misfortune of its strength and burden."

~ Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus, 231-232

December 29th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Give Thanks

 "In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible. For gratitude is a good thing for ourselves, in a manner in which justice, commonly held to belong to others, is not. Gratitude pays itself back in large measure."

~~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 81.19

December 26th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Life Is Long - If You Know How To Use It

 "It's not at all that we have too short a time to live, but that we squander a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and it's given in sufficient measure to do many great things if we spend it well. But when it's poured down the drain  of luxury and neglect, when it's employed to no good end, we're finally driven to see that it has passed by before we even recognized it passing. And so it is - we don't receive a short life, we make it so." 

~ Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 1.3-4a

December 25th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Don't Burn The Candle At Both Ends

 "The mind must be given relaxation - it will rise improved and sharper after a good break. Just as rich fields must not be forced - for they will quickly lose their fertility if never given a break - so constant work on the anvil will fracture the force of the mind. But it regains its powers if it is set free and relaxed for a while. Constant work gives rise to a certain kind of dullness and feebleness in the rational soul."

~ Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 17.5

December 24th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Meaningless . . . Like A Fine Wine

 "You know what wine and liqueur tastes like. It makes no difference whether a hundred or a thousand bottles pass through your bladder - you are nothing more than a filter."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 77.16

December 23rd Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - What Are You So Afraid of Losing?

"You are afraid of dying. But, come now, how is this life of yours anything but death?"

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 77.18 

December 22nd Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Stake Your Own Claim

 "For it's disgraceful for an old person, or one in sight of old age, to have only the knowledge carried in their notebooks. Zeno said this . . . what do you say? Cleanthes said that . . . what do you say? How long will you be compelled by the claims of another? Take charge and stake your own claim - something posterity will carry in its notebook."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 33.7

December 21st Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - What Do You Have To Show For Your Years?

"Many times an old man has no other evidence besides his age to prove he has lived a long time."

~ Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 3.8b

December 17th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Know Thyself - Before It's Too Late

 "Death lies heavy upon one

 who, known exceedingly well by all,

 dies unknown to himself."

~ Seneca, Thyestes, 400

December 11th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Dignity and Bravery

 "As Cicero says, we hate gladiators if they are quick to save their lives by any means; we favor them if they show contempt for their lives."

~ Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 11.4b

December 10th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Don't Sell Yourself Too Cheaply

 "I say, let no one rob me of a single day who isn't going to make a full return on the loss."

~ Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 1.11b

December 9th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Spendthrifts of Time

 "Were all the geniuses of history to focus on this single theme, they could never fully express their bafflement at the darkness of the human mind. No person would give up even an inch of their estate, and the slightest dispute with a neighbor can mean hell to pay; yet we easily let others encroach on our lives - worse, we often pave the way for those who will take it over. No person hands out their money to passerby, but to how many do each of us hand out our lives! We're tight-fisted with property and money, yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers."

~ Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 3.1-2

December 8th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Don't Hide From Your Feelings

 "It's better to conquer grief than to deceive it."

~ Seneca, On Consolation to Helvia, 17.1b

December 1st Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Pretend Today Is The End

 "Let us prepare our minds as if we'd come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life's books each day . . . The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 101.7b-8a

November 22nd Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - The Glass Is Already Broken

 "Fortune falls heavily on those for whom she's unexpected. The one always on the lookout easily endures."

~ Seneca, On Consolation to Helvia, 5.3

November 17th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Judge Not, Lest . . .

 "When philosophy is wielded with arrogance and stubbornly, it is the cause for the ruin of many. Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 103.4b-5a

November 16th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Hope and Fear Are the Same

 "Hecato says, 'cease to hope and you will cease to fear.' . . . The primary cause of both these ills is that instead of adapting ourselves to present circumstances we send our thoughts too far ahead."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 5.7b-8

November 6th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Someone Else Is Spinning The Thread

 "If the breaking day sees someone proud,

The ending day sees them brought low.

No one should put too much trust in triumph,

No one should give up hope of trials improving.

Clotho mixes one with the other and stops

Fortune from resting, spinning every fate around.

No one has had so much divine favor

That they could guarantee themselves tomorrow.

God keeps our lives hurtling on,

Spinning us in a whirlwind."

~ Seneca, Thyestes, 613

Seeing the reversals of fortune as states that had seemed on Election Day to go for Trump now flipped for Biden, this seems a very appropriate meditation. But even now, of course, the course of fate could reverse again, and as more votes are counted, things could change. But for now - the breaking day saw Trump proud, the ending day sees him brought low, as Georgia and Pennsylvania have both flipped to Biden!

October 30th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Who Gets The Lion's Share?

 "Aren't you ashamed to reserve for yourself only remnants of your life and to dedicate to wisdom only that time that can't be directed to business?"

~ Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 3.5b

October 29th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Character Is Fate

"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