“Rather than showing lots of complicated examples, seek a few clear ones. The best doctors don’t just hand out a bunch of prescriptions . . . instead, they only give the medicine that’s needed.”
Gaius Musonius Rufus
When the Stoic thinker Gaius Musonius Rufus said those words to his students in Rome nearly two thousand years ago, he was giving them advice that we take to heart around here: keep it simple.
The word “philosophy” makes people think of long, boring books and professors giving lectures and quotes from dead guys that have nothing to do with real life. But that’s not Stoicism. It’s meant to be applied to your life rather than just talked about in a classroom.
Stoicism is simply a way of looking at the world that makes you happier. It’s been changing people’s lives for thousands of years, and it’s super easy to learn. In fact, the main ideas of Stoicism are so simple that even kids can understand them.
You don’t have to know ancient history or read a bunch of confusing philosophical stuff to practice being Stoic. If you can understand lifting rocks, then you can understand Stoicism.
Our Mission is Simple
There’s already plenty of great stuff about Stoicism out there for anyone who wants to learn . . . but we don’t think enough of it focuses on just how simple Stoic ideas really are.
The concepts of Stoic thinking were meant to be simple, and we think they need to be shared in a way that everyone can understand and have fun with . . . regardless of their age, what they do for a living or how well they did in school.
Our mission is simple: we want to share Stoic ideas in the clearest, easiest way possible. People shouldn’t have to pull out a dictionary or a history book to understand what the heck we’re talking about.
Will some armchair philosophers who like using big words roll their eyes at us? Maybe . . . but that’s their problem.
“The person who wants detailed arguments about things that can be demonstrated simply . . . is absurd and dull.”
Gaius Musonius Rufus
Stoicism is one of the greatest gifts that humanity has ever given itself, and the whole world deserves a chance to learn about it. By keeping it simple, we hope that this website helps a few more people think Stoically and live a happier life.