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76 reviews for:
The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness
Jonas Salzgeber, Nils Salzgeber
3.85 AVERAGE
76 reviews for:
The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness
Jonas Salzgeber, Nils Salzgeber
3.85 AVERAGE
I only read the first 50%, which is the About Stoicism part. The second half is all How-to, practice stuff, and that bit interested me less. I'm not sure I am interested in excessively applying this philosophy to my own life, or interested in making a concerted effort. I was just interested in learning more about the topic, which I did.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
I really liked the ideas in this book. How philosophy used to be more something like today's psychology. There is mindfulness, minimalism and modern psychology in these two-thousand-year-old ideas to guide your behaviour. (And some zen but that's not new either.)
It teaches you to care about your own behaviour and reactions and nothing else, because those are the only things in your power. Everything else is not, so you shouldn't try to control them or be upset about them, just let them go. Easier said than done of course. But aspire to be the best version of yourself is just the perfect motto together with the attitude described above.
However, I don't think I would ever want to achieve that level of detachment where I'm not horribly shaken by the death of loved ones. It just doesn't seem healthy to me. Also, contemplating my own death and the impermanence of things won't make me calm, they freak the hell out of me, so I'll just skip those, too.
Right. The thing is, repetition never bothered me in so-called 'American style' nonfiction. I do realize it is a teaching technique that helps the material to stick. So you have to paraphrase it. Say it in other words. Again and again. But only so many times and not more. „Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.” You know the quote. For reading everything twelve times is just exhausting. After nine or ten times, it just becomes counterproductive. All right, after three or four occurences. Repeating it over and over again is just making the reader feel as if s/he's treated as a moron. Consider this paragraph. I think all of you understood what I was trying to convey in the first few sentences. Sooo what's the use of all this other stuff? (Other than that meme where can't is inflated to a six-line paragraph for a thesis.) Repetition is fine with me. A couple times. But then: enough is enough. Like, why should we still want to say the exact same message in yet another string of words? And one last time?
And now I shall check out those books by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus sitting on my shelf, recommended so many times and still waiting to be read.
It teaches you to care about your own behaviour and reactions and nothing else, because those are the only things in your power. Everything else is not, so you shouldn't try to control them or be upset about them, just let them go. Easier said than done of course. But aspire to be the best version of yourself is just the perfect motto together with the attitude described above.
However, I don't think I would ever want to achieve that level of detachment where I'm not horribly shaken by the death of loved ones. It just doesn't seem healthy to me. Also, contemplating my own death and the impermanence of things won't make me calm, they freak the hell out of me, so I'll just skip those, too.
Right. The thing is, repetition never bothered me in so-called 'American style' nonfiction. I do realize it is a teaching technique that helps the material to stick. So you have to paraphrase it. Say it in other words. Again and again. But only so many times and not more. „Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.” You know the quote. For reading everything twelve times is just exhausting. After nine or ten times, it just becomes counterproductive. All right, after three or four occurences. Repeating it over and over again is just making the reader feel as if s/he's treated as a moron. Consider this paragraph. I think all of you understood what I was trying to convey in the first few sentences. Sooo what's the use of all this other stuff? (Other than that meme where can't is inflated to a six-line paragraph for a thesis.) Repetition is fine with me. A couple times. But then: enough is enough. Like, why should we still want to say the exact same message in yet another string of words? And one last time?
And now I shall check out those books by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus sitting on my shelf, recommended so many times and still waiting to be read.
What a wonderful opportunity I was given by receiving this book to review. I started reading it at a time when life was giving me more challenges than usual. I had no idea how useful this book would be, it came at the right moment!. Now I’m sharing my thoughts about it hoping that, in these times of distress, quarantine and instability, you can beneficiate from its wisdom and examples. Like Jonas Salzgeber mentions in this book “Stoicism can improve your life in good times, but it’s in bad times when its efficacy becomes most apparent”.
This book is divided into two parts: “What is stoicism” and “55 Stoic Practices”. The first part introduces you to the concept of stoicism, a bit of history, what is its purpose and key concepts of stoic practice. The second part has 55 different situations or aspects of life in which you can apply an stoic approach to lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
As someone new to the concepts of stoicism, I found myself lost during the first couple of chapters, my brain was like a kid, impatient and craving to be entertained. Then i remembered how in the introduction I was told that, training in stoicism is a bit like surfing. Yes! that was exactly it! I was eager to get into the water and dreaded the theoretical part. It made me chuckle how accurate this ‘warning’ was.
Something i have learned is that, when I get frustrated because I don’t understand everything that is going on at the beginning of a book, I should just keep reading while carrying those half digested words and, more often than not, they make more sense as I move forward. It’s easy to get frustrated and give up, but it is more satisfying to embrace that momentary frustration in order to reap bigger rewards. It can be applied to other situations as well, not just for reading.
The second part is where we get into the water and the actual practice of stoicism in everyday life. I really loved these part’s explanation and examples. Each practice starts with a quote, followed by the author’s explanation on the subject. He makes it easy to understand, it reads as if you were having a conversation with a friend. I thought about keeping quotes from the book in my journal, so that I could later recall those stoic principles, but then I realized I was quoting most of the book! There are so many good things in here without extra filling.
Overall I can tell you that Jonas Salzgeber does a magnificent job at explaining the basics of stoicism and how to apply them in life. He makes it simple and approachable. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Seriously, I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t beneficiate from it.
This book is divided into two parts: “What is stoicism” and “55 Stoic Practices”. The first part introduces you to the concept of stoicism, a bit of history, what is its purpose and key concepts of stoic practice. The second part has 55 different situations or aspects of life in which you can apply an stoic approach to lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
As someone new to the concepts of stoicism, I found myself lost during the first couple of chapters, my brain was like a kid, impatient and craving to be entertained. Then i remembered how in the introduction I was told that, training in stoicism is a bit like surfing. Yes! that was exactly it! I was eager to get into the water and dreaded the theoretical part. It made me chuckle how accurate this ‘warning’ was.
Something i have learned is that, when I get frustrated because I don’t understand everything that is going on at the beginning of a book, I should just keep reading while carrying those half digested words and, more often than not, they make more sense as I move forward. It’s easy to get frustrated and give up, but it is more satisfying to embrace that momentary frustration in order to reap bigger rewards. It can be applied to other situations as well, not just for reading.
The second part is where we get into the water and the actual practice of stoicism in everyday life. I really loved these part’s explanation and examples. Each practice starts with a quote, followed by the author’s explanation on the subject. He makes it easy to understand, it reads as if you were having a conversation with a friend. I thought about keeping quotes from the book in my journal, so that I could later recall those stoic principles, but then I realized I was quoting most of the book! There are so many good things in here without extra filling.
Overall I can tell you that Jonas Salzgeber does a magnificent job at explaining the basics of stoicism and how to apply them in life. He makes it simple and approachable. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Seriously, I don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t beneficiate from it.
slow-paced
'Stoicism teaches us to live by a set of values that contribute to emotional resilience, calm confidence, and a clear direction in life. Just like an old reliable walking stick, it’s a guide to life based on reason rather than faith, a guide that supports us in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance, and wisdom. Stoicism makes us better human beings and teaches us how to excel in life.'
The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber is a practical book. His ardour for Stoicism and its practitioners are matched by his ability to summarise its main teachings, interspersed by a brief historical overview.
As someone who has read the three main Stoics along with Donald Robertson's works, I appreciated the intention of this book. One can leave Epictetus's Enchidrion and his Discourses, or Seneca's Letters to Lucilius and still feel unable to pin down the Stoic's modus operandi. This sentiment is shared by Salzgeber and partly fuels his exposition.
The book is split into two parts, consisting of four chapters each:
Part 1: What is Stoicism
Chapter 1 The Promise of Stoic Philosophy
Chapter 2 A Quick History Lesson
Chapter 3 The Stoic Happiness Triangle
Chapter 4 The Villain: Negative Emotions Get in the Way
Part 2: 55 Stoicism Practices
Chapter 5 How to Practice Stoicism?
Chapter 6 Preparing Practices
Chapter 7 Situational Practices: How to Deal with Yourself when Life gets Tough?
Chapter 8 Situational Practices: How to Handle Yourself when Other People Challenge You
His most novel contribution might be the 'Stoic Happiness Triangle'. As he explains, although he had read a lot of Stoic work, he could not distill the essence of their teachings. This is where the Stoic Happiness Triangle was born, which gives a graphical summary of the core principles of Stoicism. He prefaces its presentation by saying, 'And keep in mind that the Stoic Happiness Triangle is not what the Stoics taught per se, it's my visualization of their core teachings.' The triangle is composed of three vertices: 'Live with Arete', 'Focus on what you can Control' and 'Take Responsibility', with 'Eudaimonia' at the centre.
Why is eudaimonia so central? Because the ancient philosophies all converged in agreement to eudaimonia's role in living well, which he unpacks earlier in the book with a lovely corresponding visual and the following explanation:
'Imagine the best version of yourself. Look inside, do you see and know who that highest version of you is, the one who acts right in all situations, the one who makes no mistakes and seems unbeatable? If you’re anything like me and have been trying to improve yourself, then you probably know this ideal version of yourself. Well, in Greek, this best version would be the inner daimon, an inner spirit or divine spark. For the Stoics and all other schools of ancient philosophy, the ultimate goal of life was eudaimonia, to become good (eu) with your inner daimon.'
A crucial distinction that Salzgeber makes and that I welcome as an addition to modern living, is that this highest version is not promised to some and absent for others. This inner daimon remains dormant, in spite of our (sometimes) active misalignment from it. There is only one person in the relationship who does the abandoning (you!). As a consequence, this erases the necessity to be born into the right family or in the right place. More importantly, it unbinds one from the belief that they are forever solidified into an undesired character or personality, but instead:
'The Stoics believed that nature wants us to become that highest version of ourselves. This is why the inner daimon (or divine spark) has been planted within all of us like a seed, so that we have it in our natural potential to become that highest version of ourselves. In other words, it’s our nature to complete what’s been started with that divine seed and bring our human potential to life. To become good with our inner daimon, to live in harmony with our ideal self is, therefore, to get as close as possible to that high potential self.'
This seed is always there, no matter our unconscious, obtuse attempts to stamp out its residue. This offering of partnered agency, to know that nature is almost championing for us to become the best version of ourselves is uplifting. There is a companion in this quest to attain eudaimonia.
So, if we decide that yes, there is this inner daimon that is the highest version of ourselves, how do we more closely align with that ideal? Again, the Stoics have a word for this. To reach that state of eudaimonia, we must live with arete. The direct translation of this word is 'excellence' or 'virtue' but this definition is too vague. A better definition might be, 'expressing the highest version of yourself in every moment'. A similar translation is given by one of my favourite people, Brian Johnson, who writes that arete is 'Expressing the highest version of yourself moment to moment to moment.' The word arete is not limited to the Stoics, with it being a word a mother in ancient Greece might tell her child to live with as they practice for the Olympics. On Youtube, Johnson illustrates arete by drawing a gap between what we're actually doing and what we're capable of doing. We close that gap by living with arete. But say that we choose not to, what would the consequences be? Well, that gap is also the residence of anxiety, regret, feelings of worthlesness, shame, etc. Therefore, this is not a neutral choice. The emotions of anxiety, regret and shame are the promise of failing to live up to this highest possible version of ourselves. For a modern version, this is closely related to Abraham Maslow's famous aphorism, 'what one can be, one must be.'
Overall, 'The Little Book of Stoicism' synthesises the teachings of the Stoics. Donald Robertson's 'Stoicism and the Art of Happiness' is much more in depth but Salzgeber and his Stoic Happiness Triangle have really solidified the core aims of Stoicism in a way in which Robertson didn't manage to. The order in which I read them probably does enhance my appreciation of Salzgeber's terseness.
The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber is a practical book. His ardour for Stoicism and its practitioners are matched by his ability to summarise its main teachings, interspersed by a brief historical overview.
As someone who has read the three main Stoics along with Donald Robertson's works, I appreciated the intention of this book. One can leave Epictetus's Enchidrion and his Discourses, or Seneca's Letters to Lucilius and still feel unable to pin down the Stoic's modus operandi. This sentiment is shared by Salzgeber and partly fuels his exposition.
The book is split into two parts, consisting of four chapters each:
Part 1: What is Stoicism
Chapter 1 The Promise of Stoic Philosophy
Chapter 2 A Quick History Lesson
Chapter 3 The Stoic Happiness Triangle
Chapter 4 The Villain: Negative Emotions Get in the Way
Part 2: 55 Stoicism Practices
Chapter 5 How to Practice Stoicism?
Chapter 6 Preparing Practices
Chapter 7 Situational Practices: How to Deal with Yourself when Life gets Tough?
Chapter 8 Situational Practices: How to Handle Yourself when Other People Challenge You
His most novel contribution might be the 'Stoic Happiness Triangle'. As he explains, although he had read a lot of Stoic work, he could not distill the essence of their teachings. This is where the Stoic Happiness Triangle was born, which gives a graphical summary of the core principles of Stoicism. He prefaces its presentation by saying, 'And keep in mind that the Stoic Happiness Triangle is not what the Stoics taught per se, it's my visualization of their core teachings.' The triangle is composed of three vertices: 'Live with Arete', 'Focus on what you can Control' and 'Take Responsibility', with 'Eudaimonia' at the centre.
Why is eudaimonia so central? Because the ancient philosophies all converged in agreement to eudaimonia's role in living well, which he unpacks earlier in the book with a lovely corresponding visual and the following explanation:
'Imagine the best version of yourself. Look inside, do you see and know who that highest version of you is, the one who acts right in all situations, the one who makes no mistakes and seems unbeatable? If you’re anything like me and have been trying to improve yourself, then you probably know this ideal version of yourself. Well, in Greek, this best version would be the inner daimon, an inner spirit or divine spark. For the Stoics and all other schools of ancient philosophy, the ultimate goal of life was eudaimonia, to become good (eu) with your inner daimon.'
A crucial distinction that Salzgeber makes and that I welcome as an addition to modern living, is that this highest version is not promised to some and absent for others. This inner daimon remains dormant, in spite of our (sometimes) active misalignment from it. There is only one person in the relationship who does the abandoning (you!). As a consequence, this erases the necessity to be born into the right family or in the right place. More importantly, it unbinds one from the belief that they are forever solidified into an undesired character or personality, but instead:
'The Stoics believed that nature wants us to become that highest version of ourselves. This is why the inner daimon (or divine spark) has been planted within all of us like a seed, so that we have it in our natural potential to become that highest version of ourselves. In other words, it’s our nature to complete what’s been started with that divine seed and bring our human potential to life. To become good with our inner daimon, to live in harmony with our ideal self is, therefore, to get as close as possible to that high potential self.'
This seed is always there, no matter our unconscious, obtuse attempts to stamp out its residue. This offering of partnered agency, to know that nature is almost championing for us to become the best version of ourselves is uplifting. There is a companion in this quest to attain eudaimonia.
So, if we decide that yes, there is this inner daimon that is the highest version of ourselves, how do we more closely align with that ideal? Again, the Stoics have a word for this. To reach that state of eudaimonia, we must live with arete. The direct translation of this word is 'excellence' or 'virtue' but this definition is too vague. A better definition might be, 'expressing the highest version of yourself in every moment'. A similar translation is given by one of my favourite people, Brian Johnson, who writes that arete is 'Expressing the highest version of yourself moment to moment to moment.' The word arete is not limited to the Stoics, with it being a word a mother in ancient Greece might tell her child to live with as they practice for the Olympics. On Youtube, Johnson illustrates arete by drawing a gap between what we're actually doing and what we're capable of doing. We close that gap by living with arete. But say that we choose not to, what would the consequences be? Well, that gap is also the residence of anxiety, regret, feelings of worthlesness, shame, etc. Therefore, this is not a neutral choice. The emotions of anxiety, regret and shame are the promise of failing to live up to this highest possible version of ourselves. For a modern version, this is closely related to Abraham Maslow's famous aphorism, 'what one can be, one must be.'
Overall, 'The Little Book of Stoicism' synthesises the teachings of the Stoics. Donald Robertson's 'Stoicism and the Art of Happiness' is much more in depth but Salzgeber and his Stoic Happiness Triangle have really solidified the core aims of Stoicism in a way in which Robertson didn't manage to. The order in which I read them probably does enhance my appreciation of Salzgeber's terseness.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced