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Cato the Elder was very pleased when a philosopher gave a moving speech in favour of an ethical life. He was later shocked when he listened to another speech where he argued the opposite. He used his power as Censor to exile him.

Source: The Daily Stoic, a witty book with anecdotes.

This book by Ryan Holiday: "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius" is a good intro to the topic. https://www.amazon.in/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseverance-t...

One thing that has helped me tremendously is The Daily Stoic: https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Wisdom-Persev...

There is a passage for each day of the year (less than 2 pages of reading) and a theme for each month.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Wisdom-Persev...

One of his better works imo

I agree. I recommend reading "The Daily Stoic" as a good introduction, and the format makes you think about the principles on a daily basis.

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. I've been reading 1 meditation per day so I'm not done yet but I would say out of every 5 I read I find at least one really valuable lesson that makes me rethink a lot.

1. The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
Its all about stoic philosophy and teachings by Epictetus

2. Examined Lives from Socrates to Nietzsche by James Miller
Biographies of, some of the most famous philosophers.

3. The Soul of a new machine by Tracy Kidder
its about 2 competing computer design teams juggling between engineering quality and time to market.

Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but I really enjoy 'The Daily Stoic' by Ryan Holiday [0].

There's a page for each day of the year (so ideally you would read a page per day). Each page has a short quote from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and others, together with an interpretation of Ryan Holiday. For me, this wa an easy way to get started with the whole topic of Stoicism and some of Senecas and Aurelius ideas.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29093292-the-daily-stoic

The best book for me. I read this everyday.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

I've learned a lot from this book. It made me calm and influenced my decisions.

For those who are interested and want to see an example here is an excerpt from the book:

July 1st

DO YOUR JOB

“Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I’m bound to the good. In the same way an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim: ‘whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.’”

— MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.15

The Stoics believed that every person, animal, and thing has a purpose or a place in nature. Even in ancient Greek and Roman times, they vaguely understood that the world was composed of millions of tiny atoms. It was this idea—this sense of an interconnected cosmos—that underpinned their sense that every person and every action was part of a larger system. Everyone had a job—a specific duty. Even people who did bad things—they were doing their job of being evil because evil is a part of life. The most critical part of this system was the belief that you, the student who has sought out Stoicism,have the most important job: to be good! To be wise. “To remain the person that philosophy wished to make us.” Do your job today. Whatever happens, whatever other people’s jobs happen to be, do yours. Be good.

There's more gems in this book. Guaranteed!

- A collapsible kettle for drinking tea when I'm traveling. I have to travel several days every week and I can't drink tea from those hotel machines because they have coffee residue and tea tastes bad. I drink A LOT of tea so a good investment.

- Mechanical Keyboard

- Ergonomic Mouse

- A decent pair of headphones. If you enjoy listening music or watching shows using headphones, a good set can make a big difference.

- Two monitor setup for working/wasting time on my computer. Improves posture and it's more comfortable that using just one monitor+laptop since they probably are different size/resolution.

- A big water bottle. I wasn't drinking enough water and always forgot to drink more. So now I just fill up my bottle every morning and take it with me to work.

- This book: "The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living". A ton of good short lessons on how to live.

> It's really important to observe the feelings and not let it get out of control. It's also critical to understand why the feeling came, how it developed, and what it means about ourselves.

You just described Emotional intelligence, which I gained by practising Yoga, meditation and stoicism. I used to be neurotic and my anxieties ruled me. I didn't get angry often but when I did it was explosive. People were often surprised cause they never thought I could be like that. Three years ago, burnt out, feeling empty and seeking purpose, I quit working and began searching. Trust me when I say that I had no idea what I was searching for. I just needed to search for 'meaning' and purpose. It led me to yoga and meditation and my life began to change. I started to gain Emotional intelligence and better control of my nerves. It was like I was born again. My anger outbursts slowly disappead. I able to observe About a year after I began yoga and meditation, I got a copy of The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and I got even better. After 3 years I went back to work.

I practice yoga and meditation with my kid. It was hard at first, but I tried to make it fun for her. Now she enjoys it. I teach her about Emotional intelligence and read the daily Stoic with her when I can. She loves Epictetus :)

Reading Epictetus' "Enchiridion" at the moment. I enjoy Marcus Aurelius. Can't say I've read a lot of the texts. I'm not a voracious reader (any more). However, I kick off every day with a page from Ryan Haliday's "The Daily Stoic" (while his interpretations are sometimes lacking, the original quote that he expands on usually needs no exposition).

One book that I had bought a few months back and started reading on Jan 1st is this The Daily Stoic: "366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living" [1]

It contains 366 quotes, one for every day. I usually read it in the morning, then I take a photo on my phone and I re-read it during lunch time. This way I can process it again and make sure I (try to) 'fix' one thing at a time.

I have made this part of my "What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast" and "The Miracle Morning" combined-routine.

[1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseveranc...

In no particular order:

* The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday

* The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday

* Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

* Siddhartha, Herman Hesse

* The Personal MBA, Josh Kaufman

* The Effective Engineer, Edmund Lau

* The Lean Startup, Eric Ries

* Certain to Win, Chet Richards

* Left of Bang, Patrick Van Horn & Jason A. Riley

* Native Set Theory, Paul R. Halmos

* Introducing Go, by Caleb Doxsey.

If you'd like to read what I think of these books, you can read my blog post about them here: http://aalhour.com/blog/2018/01/02/review-of-my-2017-reading...

For people that may want to put a little Stoicism in their lives, you may want to try this book: The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living: Featuring new translations of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius [1]

This one-per-day, helps me absorb them in a slow and steady manner.

[1]: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Perseveranc...

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If you need a daily pick me up from the drag the quarantine is putting on your life, I would recommend The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. There is stoic philosophy passage each day with a modern interpretation by Ryan.

Here's todays (May 28)

May 28th

THE FIRST TWO THINGS BEFORE ACTING

“The first thing to do — don’t get worked up. For everything happens according to the nature of all things, and in a short time you’ll be nobody and nowhere, even as the great emperors Hadrian and Augustus are now. The next thing to do — consider carefully the task at hand for what it is, while remembering that your purpose is to be a good human being. Get straight to doing what nature requires of you, and speak as you see most just and fitting—with kindness, modesty, and sincerity.”
M ARCUS A URELIUS, M EDITATIONS , 8.5

Imagine, for a second, what Marcus’s life as an emperor must have been like. He would preside over the Senate. He would lead the troops in battle, direct the grand strategy of the army as its highest commander. He would also hear appeals—from citizens, from lawyers, from foreign governments. In other words, like most people in power, he was called on to make decisions: all day, every day, decision after decision.

His formula for decision making is a battle-tested method for doing and acting right—literally. Which is why we ought to try to use it ourselves.

First, don’t get upset—because that will color your decision negatively and make it harder than it needs to be.

Second, remember the purpose and principles you value most. Running potential actions through this filter will eliminate the bad choices and highlight the right ones.

Don’t get upset.

Do the right thing.

That’s it.

Holiday, Ryan,Hanselman, Stephen. The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living (p. 162). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

A few of my fav:

  A guide to the Good Life by William Irvine

  The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

  The Art of Living by Epictetus

  Meditation by Marcus Aurelius

Although not directly related to Stoicism, there are Stoic lessons in them:

  Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

  The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

  The Fifth Agreement by don Miguel Ruiz

  Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert