So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt sit hereafter out of fear from her rotations. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick, or the return of your absent friend, or some other favorable event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yoursel ..read more

“I have gathered a posy of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.” – Montaigne Scrolling through Instagram, you might find yourself pausing at pictures of guys scaling mountains, coding the next big app, crafting artisan furniture, or looking sharp in a tailored suit. A knot tightens in your gut, and you wonder, “What’s left for me? They’ve got it all figured out.” Enter Montaigne, a 16th-century philosopher who offers timeless insights into human nature. Reading his work feels like a conversation with a wiser version of yourself—someone grappling with t ..read more

“The first principle of practical Stoicism is this: we don’t react to events; we react to our judgments about them, and the judgments are up to us.” ― Ward Farnsworth, The Practicing Stoic We’ve all been there. Staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night, wrestling with questions we can’t answer, haunted by circumstances we can’t change. It feels like the universe is out to get us, right? But what if I told you that the root of your discontent isn’t the world around you, but your beliefs about it? The Blueprint of Reality Your beliefs are the blueprints of your reality. Just a ..read more

There’s a familiar line that echoed through my mind as I participated in a grueling 35k race in the Sierra Tarahumara this past weekend: “Run if you can, walk if you must, but whatever you do, don’t stop moving.” It might sound like a catchy slogan you’d find on a motivational poster, but its depth is far more profound. You see, I’ve tackled a few Ultramarathons in my time, and if there’s one secret to crossing that finish line, it’s the relentless drive to keep moving forward. Even if you have to walk, even if every muscle aches, you push onward. But this isn’t just a lesson in endurance runn ..read more

“The fool, with all his other faults, has this also, he is always getting ready to live.” – Epicurus Courage: The Stoic Approach Courage isn’t only about heroic acts in grand battles; it’s about the small decisions we make every day. The Stoics understood this. They knew that courage is deeply connected to living fully in the present moment and facing our tasks with determination and integrity. For example, consider a writer facing a blank page every day or an entrepreneur taking the first step toward a new venture. These actions require the courage to confront uncertainty and potential fail ..read more

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.” ― Aristotle Sincere effort. Today, I woke up thinking about why I write in Stoic Answers. I’ve written so many articles about Stoicism that I began to develop the idiotic idea that there wasn’t much more to write about. I was very wrong to think that, because becoming a Stoic, or any sort of a great man, doesn’t happen with the reading of a single blog post, it happens through ..read more

“He robs present ills of their power who has perceived their coming beforehand.” Seneca Not too long ago, I started going out with a girl. We went out a couple of times, and frankly, I was excited. The girl was pretty and I was in the mood for having a female presence in my life. But then, I got, kind of, ghosted. I’m not sure why, or well, I have some ideas, but none of them are relevant to the point I am trying to make here. I was obviously hurt. I thought it was going well, but apparently not. I wasn’t prepared to deal with the hurt either. I remember ruminating about the reasons why over ..read more

Life is full of pain and suffering. We are told that we shouldn’t suffer and that we should always be in a state of, if not bliss, at least contentedness. The Buddha knew better. His first truth of life is that life is suffering. It’s not just suffering, of course, it is a lot more things, and it is undeniably beautiful in many ways, but the hard truth is that suffering is a big chunk of it. If suffering is going to be a constant in life, I think it is appropriate to know how to handle it. Michel de Montaigne argues in his essay “The taste of good and evil things depends on our opinion” that w ..read more

Concentrate, just… concentrate. I recently watched a video featuring Jordan Peterson discussing the Egyptian god Horus, who was highly revered by the Egyptians. Horus is often represented by an eye, similar to the one found atop the pyramid on the US dollar bill. The video emphasized the immense power of attention, and I believe there’s truth to that notion. Have you ever doubted your ability to accomplish something? It happens to me frequently. In those moments, I often find myself subconsciously searching for excuses to avoid focusing on the task at hand, whether it’s a challenging project o ..read more

You will ever remain a slave as long as you do not disentangle your relationship with the externals (stuff that you cannot control). The only thing that you can really control is your choices. The externals are many, basically everything. Your health, your wealth, the health of the people you love, the death of your loved ones, the way the world is being managed at the moment, natural disasters, your beauty, your success.  You are able to influence all of these, of course, but not ultimately control them. You cannot get mad when you throw a die and you get a 4 instead of a 6. It’s irratio ..read more