Why You Should Do Your Own Writing

There is something strange you find when you study the early Stoics. Not Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus, but the Stoics who influenced them. The names you don’t hear much: Cleanthes. Posidonius. Panaetius. Aristo. Antipater. Chrysippus. What you find—beside the fact that these were living, breathing, human beings with all sorts of interesting experiences—is that you start to notice just how big a role they played in the shaping of the classic Stoic texts we know and love. For instance, the interesting analogy about how a philosopher should be like a wrestler—a fighter dug in for sudden attacks—that Marcus Aurelius famously makes in Meditations? That actually originates from Panaetius, a Stoic philosopher from the 2nd century BCE that Marcus studied. There are allusions to the insights of Aristo and Antipater and Chryssippus in Seneca. A deep dive into Epictetus shows not only how he was influenced by Zeno, but reveals how many unattributed quotations of Epictetus appear in Marcus Aurelius! So what is this philosophy then? Just a bunch of people repeating the same old insights? Hardly. Remember, Stoicism is a practice, not merely a set of principles. The act of sitting down and journaling—writing and rewriting—about ideas from the earlier Stoics is a kind of meditative experience. It’s almost like a prayer. It’s what transforms an epigram into a mantra...and then later into action when it counts. Besides, have we not learned from music how powerful and creative the art of remixing can be? It’s in this writing and rewriting that each successive generation of Stoics was able to come up with new insights and further refine the philosophy (a tradition that continues today with writers all over the world). Blaise Pascal, whose book Pensées is eerily similar in tone and style and content to Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, puts it well when he writes, “Let no one say that I have said nothing new, the arrangement of the material is new. In playing tennis both players use the same ball, but one plays it better." Today, your job is to sit down and do some writing—using this old material. Sit down with The Daily Stoic Journal. Sit down on Twitter and put some quotes in your own language. Riff on the ideas with your kids. Write a reminder to yourself on your phone. Pick up the ball and play with it. Practice the philosophy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

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  Why You Must Do Your Own Writing There's something strange you find when you study the early Stoics. Not Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus, but the Stoics who influenced them. The names you don't hear too much: Cleanthes, Posidonius, Panaetius, Aristote, Antipater, Chrysippus. What you find, besides the fact that these were living, breathing, human beings with all sorts of interesting experiences, is that you start to notice just how big a role they played in the shaping of the classic Stoic texts we know and love. For instance, the interesting analogy about how a philosopher should be like a wrestler, a fighter dug in for sudden attacks, the one that Marcus Aurelius famously makes in Meditations, that actually originates

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  from Panaetius, a Stoic philosopher that Marcus studied. There are allusions to the insights of Aristote and Antipater and Chrysippus and Seneca. A deep dive into Epictetus not only shows how he was influenced by Zeno, but reveals how many unattributed quotations of Epictetus appear in Marcus Aurelius. So what is this philosophy, then? Just a bunch of people repeating the same old insights? Hardly. Remember, Stoicism is a practice, not merely a set of principles. The act of sitting down and journaling, writing and rewriting on the ideas from the earlier Stoics is a kind of meditative experience. It's almost like a prayer. It's what transforms an epigram into a mantra, and then later into actions when it counts.

• 1:59Speaker 00

  Besides, have we not learned from music how powerful and creative the art of remixing can be? It's in this writing and rewriting that each successive generations of Stoics was able to come up with new insights and further refine the philosophy, a tradition that continues today with writers all over the world. Blaise Pascal, whose own writing, in some cases, is eerily similar in tone and style to Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, puts it well when he writes, "Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of the material is new. In playing tennis, both players use the same ball, but one plays it better." Today, your job is to sit down and do some writing using this old material.

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  Sit down with the Daily Stoic Journal, sit down on Twitter, and put some quotes into your own language, riff on the ideas with your kids, write a reminder to yourself on your phone, pick up the ball and play with it. Practice the philosophy. Hey, everyone. We've seen how much you've loved the Daily Stoic Challenges, and so we've released a new product that will help you challenge yourself all year round. It's the Daily Stoic Challenge Deck. It's got 30 days of challenges, physical cards, and an awesome box that'll test your strength, your willpower, and help you become a better you. Each challenge card comes with a great Stoic quote and a cool picture. It's a great gift for the holidays or any time of the year. We know you're gonna love it. You can buy the Daily Stoic Challenge Deck now at dailystoic.com/store.