Lives of the Stoics : the art of living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius /
Material type: TextPublisher: New York, New York : Portfolio / Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2020Description: xv, 329 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780525541875
- 052554187X
- 188 23
- B528 .H66 2020
Item type | Current library | Home library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Loan | Hayden Library Adult Nonfiction | Hayden Library | Book | 188/HOLIDAY (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Checked out | 05/24/2024 | 50610022890151 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Instant New York Times Advice & Business Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller!
A New York Times Noteworthy Pick and a "stellar work" by Publishers Weekly
From the bestselling authors of The Daily Stoic comes an inspiring guide to the lives of the Stoics, and what the ancients can teach us about happiness, success, resilience and virtue.
Nearly 2,300 years after a ruined merchant named Zeno first established a school on the Stoa Poikile of Athens, Stoicism has found a new audience among those who seek greatness, from athletes to politicians and everyone in between. It's no wonder; the philosophy and its embrace of self-mastery, virtue, and indifference to that which we cannot control is as urgent today as it was in the chaos of the Roman Empire.
In Lives of the Stoics , Holiday and Hanselman present the fascinating lives of the men and women who strove to live by the timeless Stoic virtues of Courage. Justice. Temperance. Wisdom. Organized in digestible, mini-biographies of all the well-known--and not so well-known--Stoics, this book vividly brings home what Stoicism was like for the people who loved it and lived it, dusting off powerful lessons to be learned from their struggles and successes.
More than a mere history book, every example in these pages, from Epictetus to Marcus Aurelius--slaves to emperors--is designed to help the reader apply philosophy in their own lives. Holiday and Hanselman unveil the core values and ideas that unite figures from Seneca to Cato to Cicero across the centuries. Among them are the idea that self-rule is the greatest empire, that character is fate; how Stoics benefit from preparing not only for success, but failure; and learn to love, not merely accept, the hand they are dealt in life. A treasure of valuable insights and stories, this book can be visited again and again by any reader in search of inspiration from the past.
Maps on endsheets.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction -- Zeno the prophet -- Cheanthes the apostle -- Aristo the challenger -- Chrysippus the fighter -- Zeno the maintainer -- Diogenes the diplomat -- Antipater the ethicist -- Panaetius the connector -- Publius Rutilius Rufus the last honest man -- Posidonius the genius -- Diotimus the vicious -- Cicero the fellow traveler -- Cato the Younger, Rome's iron man -- Porcia Cato the iron woman -- Athenodorus Cananites the kingmaker -- Arius Didymus the kingmaker II -- Agrippinus the different -- Seneca the striver -- Cornutus the common -- Gaius Rubellius Plautus the man who would not be king -- Thrasea the fearless -- Helvidius Pricus the senator -- Musonius Rufus the unbreakable -- Epictetus the free man -- Junius Rusticus the dutiful -- Marcus Aurelius the philosopher king -- Conclusion -- Timeline of the Stoics and the Graeco-Roman world.
"From the bestselling authors of The Daily Stoic comes an inspiring guide to the lives of the Stoics, and what the ancients can teach us about happiness, success, resilience and virtue. Nearly 2,300 years after a ruined merchant named Zeno first established a school on the Stoa Poikile of Athens, Stoicism has found a new audience among those who seek greatness, from athletes to politicians and everyone in between. It's no wonder; the philosophy and its embrace of self-mastery, virtue, and indifference to that which we cannot control is as urgent today as it was in the chaos of the Roman Empire. In Lives of the Stoics, Holiday and Hanselman present the fascinating lives of the men and women who strove to live by the timeless Stoic virtues of Courage. Justice. Temperance. Wisdom. Organized in digestible, mini-biographies of all the well-known--and not so well-known--Stoics, this book vividly brings home what Stoicism was like for the people who loved it and lived it, dusting off powerful lessons to be learned from their struggles and successes. More than a mere history book, every example in these pages, from Epictetus to Marcus Aurelius--slaves to emperors--is designed to help the reader apply philosophy in their own lives. Holiday and Hanselman unveil the core values and ideas that unite figures from Seneca to Cato to Cicero across the centuries. Among them are the idea that self-rule is the greatest empire, that character is fate; how Stoics benefit from preparing not only for success, but failure; and learn to love, not merely accept, the hand they are dealt in life. A treasure of valuable insights and stories, this book can be visited again and again by any reader in search of inspiration from the past"--
Nearly 2,300 years after a ruined merchant named Zeno first established a school on the Stoa Poikile of Athens, Stoicism has found a new audience among those who seek greatness, from athletes to politicians and everyone in between. The philosophy and its embrace of self-mastery, virtue, and indifference to that which we cannot control is as urgent today as it was in the chaos of the Roman Empire. Holiday and Hanselman present the fascinating lives of the men and women who strove to live by the timeless Stoic virtues of Courage. Justice. Temperance. Wisdom. Every example in these pages, from slaves to emperors, is designed to help the reader apply philosophy in their own lives. -- adapted from publisher info
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction (p. ix)
- Zeno the Prophet (p. 1)
- Cleanthes the Apostle (p. 13)
- Aristo the Challenger (p. 17)
- Chrysippus the Fighter (p. 39)
- Zeno the Maintainer (p. 51)
- Diogenes the Diplomat (p. 55)
- Antipater the Ethicist (p. 65)
- Panaetius the Connector (p. 75)
- Publius Rutilius Rufus the Last Honest Man (p. 89)
- Posidonius the Genius (p. 99)
- Diotimus the Vicious (p. 109)
- Cicero the Fellow Traveler (p. 115)
- Cato the Younger, Rome's Iron Man (p. 135)
- Porcia Cato the Iron Woman (p. 153)
- Athenodorus Cananites the Kingmaker (p. 163)
- Arius Didymus the Kingmaker II (p. 169)
- Agrippinus the Different (p. 179)
- Seneca the Striver (p. 185)
- Cornutus the Common (p. 209)
- Gaius Rubellius Plautus the Man Who Would Not Be King (p. 213)
- Thrasea the Fearless (p. 219)
- Helvidius Priscus the Senator (p. 229)
- Musonius Rufus the Unbreakable (p. 237)
- Epictetus the Free Man (p. 251)
- Junius Rusticus the Dutiful (p. 269)
- Marcus Aurelius the Philosopher King (p. 279)
- Conclusion (p. 301)
- Timeline of the Stoics and the Graeco-Roman World (p. 311)
- Sources Consulted and Further Reading (p. 321)
- Index of Stoics (p. 327)
Excerpt provided by Syndetics
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
Holiday and Hanselman (coauthors of The Daily Stoic) explain in this stellar work the implications of Stoic dedications to truth, wisdom, resilience, and character. The authors present the work as a series of biographies of philosophers and ground each of the 26 profiles in the virtues of courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom that Stoics believes necessary to living a happy life. They distinguish "pen and ink philosophers" (more concerned with writing than living) from the Stoics, whose central tenet is summed up best by Marcus Aurelius's: "Do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter." Including profiles of Stoics who were boxers, slaves, failed merchants, Roman senators, and occasionally "iron" women, each chapter provides a brief historical context before exploring the challenges of seeking a humble life in the Stoic fashion. Rather than offering prescriptive practices, the authors believe one can "learn more from the Stoics' lived experiences (their works) than we can from their philosophical writings (their words)": Cynic philosopher Crates of Thebes taught Zeno to learn from humiliation; Cleanthes of Assos, a middle-aged water boy, preached stoicism at night in the streets; Chrysippius, a long-distance runner, stressed the value of meritocracy over the misjudgments of social position. This illuminating collection of biographies makes great use of Stoic wisdom to demonstrate the tradition's values for any reader interested in ancient philosophy. (Sept.)Kirkus Book Review
An introductory guide to the luminaries of Greco-Roman ethical philosophy--and their checkered histories. Stoicism is famously prescriptive: Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is cherished for its aphoristic guidance on virtue and leadership, and Epictetus' best-known work, Encheiridion, loosely translates to "handbook." But Holiday and Hanselman, founders of the website the Daily Stoic, avoid a strict how-to approach, instead structuring the book as chronologically arranged pocket biographies of Stoic figures, from Zeno, a merchant who founded the school in Athens in the fourth century B.C.E., to Aurelius, who applied its tenets of calm resilience as Roman emperor in the second century C.E. The approach means there are many filler chapters on lesser-known thinkers like Panaetius, Porcia Cato (a rare woman Stoic), and Thrasea. (Some seem extraneous. The authors have little to say about Diotimus, who wrote some libelous letters. Bad form, but what of it?) The upside of their approach is that it thoughtfully complicates Stoicism. Rather than emphasizing Spock-like, unemotional rigor (as pop culture often does), the authors reveal how the philosophy often debated its identity and how many of the leaders fell short of its ideals. Cicero, for instance, gained fame as a statesman but ran aground thanks to his reputation for self-aggrandizement; Seneca's seriousness gave him the thankless task of serving as counsel to Nero, who used him as cover for his own despicable actions as Roman emperor. Still, the authors see Stoicism as inherently inspirational, and there are plenty of examples, from corruption-fighters like Publius Rutilius Rufus to Epictetus, who rose from slavery to become a much-admired thinker. The finest Stoics, they write, were "able to focus in even the most distracting of situations, to be able to tune out anything and everything--even creeping death--so that we lock in on what matters." At a time when public nobility is hard to come by, this is a good reminder of the power of ethical leadership. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.Author notes provided by Syndetics
Ryan Holiday is one of the world's bestselling living philosophers. His books, including The Obstacle Is the Way , Ego Is the Enemy , The Daily Stoic , and the #1 New York Times bestseller Stillness Is the Key , appear in more than forty languages and have sold over 10 million copies. He lives outside Austin with his wife and two boys ... and a small herd of cows and donkeys and goats. His bookstore, The Painted Porch, sits on historic Main Street in Bastrop, Texas.Stephen Hanselman has worked for more than three decades in publishing as a bookseller, publisher and literary agent. He is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School, where he received a master's degree while also studying extensively in Harvard's philosophy department. He lives with his family in South Orange, New Jersey.
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