The Discourses of Epictetus is a conversation that takes place between Epictetus and his student. There is a lot of information about proper conduct, but most interesting to me were the psychological insights and the critique of Epicurus near the end of the book. Psychology of Action 1) Impression: You have good and bad impressions about … Read more
The Enchridon by Epictetus is a short book about Stoicism. We are warned of the excesses of wealth and of succumbing to pleasure. Epictetus prized reason above all else, since it is a gift from the Gods, and it is what separates us from animals, but the use of reason does not come without a … Read more
A Guide to The Good Life is about the practice of Stoicism from a more academic lens. The author, Irvine, is a philosophy professor who was not exposed to Stoicism until much later in his academic career. That it is because academic philosophy at this university had many sub-specializations including the philosophy of mind, political … Read more
Seneca failed to live up to the principles outlined in Letters from a Stoic. But he was still an outstanding figure in history. He is credited with inventing the essay format, and the content of his letters have been useful to many people after his time. In his eight letter to Lucilius, he said that … Read more
‘If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people’s opinions, you will never be rich.’ Epicurus The desires of nature are small, but those of people are limitless. You can amass enormous wealth; you can buy a luxurious house with marble floors and expensive paintings. And the … Read more
Massimo Pagliucci has written How to be a Stoic, a great book about the history of how Stoicism emerged, as well as its theoretical background. Overall, this was an enjoyable book, but deteriorated towards the end. Summary When Pagliucci left religion and became an atheist or a secular humanist, he felt something was lacking … Read more
In The Lucifer Principle, Howard Bloom sets on an ambitious undertaking, to find a single explanation for why there is evil in the world. Bloom is a controversial figure. He once suggested that Islamic cultures treat their children harshly, they despise open displays of affections, and the result is a society of violent adults. If … Read more
Peter Bevelin divides Seeking Wisdom into two parts. The first describes our natural human tendencies and how they often fail us, while the second part describes principles that we should think about and apply, to improve our decision making. Most of the advice and stories are given by Buffet and Charlie Munger, with some references … Read more
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk is, like all books about marketing, about how to be relevant in a sea of noise. But what Gary does well in this book, is he tells us how media has changed, why what worked in the past doesn’t work today, and makes good arguments for how … Read more
Ed Young is a contributor for the Atlantic. I Contain Multitudes is his fascinating book about the story of microbes, their origins and functions, our relationship with them so far, and how this relationship will develop in the future. Friendly Fire We usually think of microbes as inconveniences. We may wonder how much more pleasant … Read more