Cave Wisdom & Way Series
Do you want to have at hand the wisdom and ways of the ancient Greeks (an author, work, or school of philosophy) organized by topic?
Grow and live with the help of one of the following Cave Wisdom & Way Series books.
"I just wanted to say . . . I really love your books! . . . You have really helped me develop myself with your books." - Manuel
To learn more about each book and to read wisdom samples from each, see the section for each book below (beginning here).
To learn more about the Cave Wisdom & Ways Series, go here.
The Wisdom & Way of Homer: Pocket Edition
including the human, heroic & divine sayings of the Iliad & Odyssey of Homer
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The Wisdom & Way of Homer
For well over a thousand years, the ancient Greeks memorized Homer’s poems, meditated on their meaning, and applied their wisdom to their lives. Homer was their chief educator and coach, their most significant guru and guide.
Like the Greeks, we can learn much from Homer about how to live well today.
The Wisdom & Way of Homer: Pocket Edition presents the sayings of the many men and women, heroes and gods of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey separated into 39 topics for contemplation and practice.
Also included is a brief introduction to Homer and his poems, as well as a 12-point Homeric plan of life, ways to practice following Homer, and conversation starters sparked by the lines of his poems.
Carry The Wisdom & Way of Homer in your pocket and return to it again and again. The benefit you’ll experience has been time-tested and people-approved for millennia.
$14.95
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Here are sample points from The Wisdom & Way of Homer
The following points come from The Wisdom & Way of Homer. In addition to identifying the speaker (if not Homer), the italicized word or words describe or sum up the point.
The excellence imperative. Nestor said, “Old Peleus insistently ordered his son Achilles to always be the best and to stand out among other men.”
The glory imperative. Hector said, “I have learned always to be brave and to fight in the front ranks among the Trojans, winning great glory for my father and myself. . . . Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that men to come will hear about!”
True glory. Laodamas said, “There is no greater glory than that which a man has from the accomplishments of his own hands and feet.”
The human condition. Glaucus said, “Men come and go as the leaves do year after year upon the trees. The wind sheds the autumn leaves upon the ground, but when the spring returns, the forest buds again with fresh ones. The generations of mankind are like this. The new generation springs up as the old is passing away.”
The human condition. Apollo said, “Miserable mortals flourish now like green leaves in springtime, eating whatever the earth provides, but soon waste away and decay, falling lifeless to the ground.”
Human variety. Polydamas said to Hector, “Some god has granted you skill in war, but . . . you can’t win in everything. The gods have given to one man skill in war and to another skill in the dance. To others they’ve given the ability to play the lyre or sing. To still others far-seeing Zeus gives a noble mind.”
Human delight. “Different men delight in different things.”
True delight. Odysseus said, “There is nothing sweeter to a man than his own homeland and his parents. . . . I declare that there is nothing better or more delightful than when a whole people join in merry festivity, with the guests sitting side by side listening to the singer, while before them the table is loaded with bread and meats, and the cupbearer draws wine from the mixing bowl and pours it into all the goblets. In my mind, this seems to be the most beautiful thing.”
Fulfilment. Menelaus said, “I declare that all things find satisfaction—sleep, love, sweet song, and the stately dance. With these things a man hopes to find fulfilment.”
Death. Athena said to Telemachus, “Death that is common to all men is certain. Not even the gods have the power to defend a loved man against it when the destructive fate of death finally drops a man to the dust.”
Human need for the gods. Peisistratus said, “All men need the gods.”
God-dependent life. Hector said, “Everything rests with the gods.”
God-dependent delight. Eumaeus said, “Eat and enjoy the food we have. The god gives on the one hand and withholds on the other depending on his spirit’s wish, for the god is able to do all things.”
God-dependent happiness and wealth. Odysseus said, “As for the happiness of wealth, it’s up to the gods to give it or not.”
Inescapable fate. Hector said, “No man has gone down to Hades beyond what Fate had decreed. But I declare that from the moment of his birth, no man has ever been able to run away from his own fate, neither the coward nor the brave man.”
Zeus’ two jars of fortune. Achilles said to Priam, the king of Troy, “On the floor of Zeus’ house there are two jars from which he gives gifts. The one is filled with evil and the other with good. To whomever Zeus, who delights in thunder, mixes and gives out both, that man will meet now with good and now with evil fortune. But for the man who only receives evil gifts—ah, that man will suffer shameful treatment. Evil poverty and hunger will drive him back and forth over the earth, and neither the gods nor men will honor him.”
Life’s great value. Achilles said, “My life is worth more to me than all the wealth of Ilium, the riches it had before the Achaeans attacked it, when there was yet peace. It is worth more than all the treasure that lies on the stone floor of Apollo’s temple beneath the cliffs of Pytho. Cattle and fat sheep may be carried off as booty, and tripods and yellow-headed horses may be acquired, but when a man’s life has once left him, it cannot be brought back again or won by force.”
Simple life is better than death. Achilles said, “Do not speak to me lightly about death, glorious Odysseus. If only I could, I would choose to live upon the earth, working as a day laborer for some other man, some landless man who doesn’t have much of what it takes to live. I’d rather be that man, Odysseus, than rule over all the rotting dead.”
Human responsibility. Zeus said to the gods, “How shameful it is that the mortals even now blame the gods! From us, they say, come all sorts of bad things. But it is through their own recklessness that they have sorrows beyond those which are fated.”
The need to restrain desire. Tiresias said to Odysseus, “You may still reach home, though suffering misfortune, if you will choose to restrain your own desires and curb those of your comrades when you reach the island of Thrinacia. . . . There you will find the grazing cattle and fat sheep of Helios the Sun . . . . If you leave these alone, . . . then you may still reach Ithaca, though suffering hardship and misfortune. But if you hurt them, then I predict ruin—destruction—for your ship and death for your comrades.”
The endurance rule. Odysseus said, “But pity me . . . I have come upon you first after much suffering and toil.” In reply, Nausicaa said, “Stranger, . . . since Olympian Zeus himself dispenses fortune and happiness to men, to both the good and the bad as he wills, whether he be brave or a coward, noble or base—so I believe that surely he has given misfortune to you. Regardless, you must endure it either way.”
The need to endure. Athena said to Odysseus, “You must endure the trouble and pain—you have no choice. . . . In silence suffer all the pain and distress, and patiently bear the violent abuse of men.”
Being weak, humans must endure. Odysseus said to Amphinomus, “Of all things that breathe and move along the earth, there’s nothing weaker than a human being—I tell you, the earth nurtures no frailer thing. For as long as the gods give him excellence, and as long as his knees stand strong, he thinks he’ll never suffer misfortune in the days to come. But when the blessed gods send him misery, he must bear it with an enduring spirit even though it is against his will.”
Craft over strength. The gods . . . beheld the artful skill of inventive Hephaestus. And glancing at the other one would say, “Bad deeds do not thrive. The slow overtakes the swift—just as now Hephaestus, slow as he is, has seized Ares, even though he is the swiftest of the gods who hold Olympus. Lame, he has seized him by cunning craft. Ares must pay the fine for adultery.”
Wisdom and cunning. Nestor said to Antilochus, “The horses making up the other teams are swifter than yours are, but the other men do not know how to plan a race better than you do. Therefore, dear son, fill your mind with wisdom and cunning of every sort so that you don’t lose out on winning a prize. The woodcutter is far better because of wisdom and cunning than he is because of strength. And by wisdom and cunning, too, does a steersman rightly guide a swift ship that is buffeted by the winds on the wine-faced sea. And by wisdom and cunning does one charioteer prevail over another.”
Strife. Strife, who causes much sorrow, rejoiced as she beheld the two armies. . . . Strife is man-slaying Ares’ sister and comrade. She starts small and grows bigger and taller until her head is sky-high, and her feet drag along the earth. Strife lobbed distressful contention between them, and when it came among them, it increased their lamentation.
May strife perish! Achilles said to Thetis, “May strife utterly perish from among both the gods and men, and anger that incites a wise man to be savagely upset—an anger that drips like very sweet honey and expands like smoke in the breast of a man, growing ever larger. Even so has the lord of men Agamemnon now provoked me to anger.”
Conquering anger. Phoenix said to Achilles, “You must conquer your great and angry temper, Achilles. It is not fitting to have a ruthless heart. No, even the gods are able to bend, the gods who are better.”
Courage. “The bold and courageous man does better in all things.”
Cooperate for strength. “Remember, battle excellence comes even for very weak and cowardly men when they band together.”
Two is better than one. Diomedes said, “If some other man were to go along with me, there would be greater hope and confidence. When two go together, one apprehends before the other whatever advantage there may be. On the other hand, if one is alone, even when he discerns something, his mind is slow, and his cunning is inadequate.”
The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics: Pocket Edition
including the sayings of and anecdotes about the ancient Greek Cynic philosophers
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The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics
The ancient Greek Cynics and their philosophy influenced the Greek and Roman worlds for a thousand years.
What did they hope to accomplish? They wished to live a life in accord with nature, a virtuous life, one characterized by self-control, self-sufficiency, and simplicity. They wanted to be free.
But theirs wasn’t a life for the wavering or fainthearted. Rather, as they portrayed it, their path was a shortcut to the heights, to true rather than apparent happiness.
The Cynic way was an ancient way, yes, but we can learn and benefit from their wisdom today and walk along the path they followed.
The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics: Pocket Edition presents the sayings of and anecdotes about the ancient Cynics from a variety of ancient sources separated into 41 topics for contemplation and practice.
Also included is a brief introduction to the Cynics, as well as a 12-point Cynic plan of life, ways to practice following the Cynics, and conversation starters sparked by their words.
Carry The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics in your pocket and return to it again and again. The benefit you’ll experience has been time-tested and people-approved for millennia.
$14.95
Here are sample points from The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics
The following points come from The Wisdom & Way of the Cynics. In addition to identifying the speaker (at end), the italicized word or words describe or sum up the point.
Seek the goal of life—happiness. The main goal of the Cynics . . . was how they themselves might be happy.— Julian
Go for happiness. One must go for happiness, as Diogenes used to say, even if the going is through fire.—Crates of Thebes
Look for happiness in the right place by listening to Socrates say, “Where are you hurrying? What are you doing, you miserable men? Like blind people you are wandering up and down. You are going by another road and have left the true road. You search for prosperity and happiness where they are not. And if another shows you where they are, you do not believe him.” —Epictetus (citing Socrates)
Do happiness (rather than talking or thinking about it). Long is the path that leads to happiness through words alone. But the path that leads to happiness through the practice of daily deeds is short.—Crates of Thebes
Do philosophy like a Cynic. Do philosophy more often than you breathe. I say this because living well, which philosophy produces, is more choiceworthy than simply living, which breathing produces. Don’t do philosophy as others have done it, but as Antisthenes first practiced it, that which Diogenes brought to fulfillment.—Crates of Thebes
Live according to nature. I am heaven’s dog . . . living according to nature.—Diogenes of Sinope
Practice following nature. Rather than unprofitable, toilsome exercises, men should prefer those which follow nature in order to live happily.—Diogenes of Sinope
Follow nature by altering the currency. Diogenes granted nothing at all . . . to human custom and law; rather, he followed nature. In this way he practiced “altering the currency,” which is to say he reevaluated human customs.—Diogenes Laertius
How to follow nature. It was by watching a mouse—how it didn’t long for a marriage bed, and how it didn’t care about the dark, and how it didn’t long for things that have a reputation for causing pleasure—that Diogenes discovered the means of adapting himself to circumstances.—Theophrastus of Eresos (about Diogenes of Sinope)
Do virtue; practice. Virtue is something you do—it’s a matter of deeds. It doesn’t require a stockpile of arguments or much learning. . . . Virtue is sufficient for happiness. . . . Virtue is a weapon that cannot be taken away.—Antisthenes
The goal is virtue, which strengthens and heals. The Cynics hold that the goal of life is to live according to virtue. . . . Virtue alone is that by which the soul can be strengthened and delivered from its afflictions.—Diogenes of Sinope
Imitate Diogenes’ example. Diogenes was courageous in his practice of virtue. . . . Put on his armor and carry his weapons.—Crates of Thebes
Strive to be a good and noble man. Men strive in punching and kicking to outdo one another, but no one strives to become a noble and good man.—Diogenes of Sinope
Know yourself. When he was asked what result he obtained from philosophy, Diogenes said, “The ability to be in my own company and to be acquainted with myself.”—Diogenes Laertius (citing Diogenes of Sinope)
Soul care. Take care of your soul—but your body only so far as what is necessary, and externals not even that much. I say this because happiness is not a pleasure that requires external things, nor does perfect virtue require these.—Crates of Thebes
Cultivate yourself. We must look into the good and bad done in our own households.—Diogenes of Sinope
Harmonize yourself. Observing a foolish man tuning a harp, he said, “Are you not ashamed to give this piece of wood harmonious sounds while you fail to harmonize your soul with your life?”—Diogenes of Sinope
Obey the commander of your soul. Reason is commander of the soul, a noble thing, the greatest good for human beings.—Crates of Thebes
Steer your life with reason. Let a person entrust all his affairs to reason and intelligence and steer his course by them—for this was the central point, I suppose, of Diogenes’ philosophy.—Julian
Seek freedom. The Cynic Diogenes declared that his manner of life was the same as that of Heracles. He preferred freedom more than everything else.—Diogenes Laertius
Freedom from others. So long as you are a slave to the opinions of the many you have not yet approached freedom or tasted its nectar.”—Julian
Be free of what others think. Do not be distressed, father, . . . Instead, be delighted that your son is . . . free from popular opinion, to which everyone, both the Greeks and barbarians, are enslaved.—Diogenes of Sinope
Train; practice; do. Absolutely nothing in life is successful without training, which has the power to conquer anything.—Diogenes of Sinope
Two kinds of training. Diogenes declared that there are two kinds of exercise—training of the soul and training of the body. And that the latter exercise gives rise to perceptions that facilitate virtuous deeds. Each practice is incomplete and ineffectual without the other.—Diogenes Laertius
The need to train. Virtue enters the soul by means of training—not automatically as happens with vice.—Crates of Thebes
Exercise using pleasure and hardship. Keep training just as you began and earnestly set yourself in equal measure against both pleasure and hardship—Diogenes of Sinope
Practice self-control and endurance. Flee not only from the worst of the vices, injustice and a lack of self-control, but also what produces them, pleasure and enjoyment. . . . Pursue not only the best of goods, self-control and endurance, but also what produces them, hard work and toil. In doing so, you will exchange hard work and toil for virtue.—Crates of Thebes
Practice endurance. Making his home in the Piraeus, Antisthenes used to walk about five miles to Athens every day in order to hear Socrates. He learned the art of endurance from him, imitating his indifference to suffering. So it was that he began the Cynic philosophy and the Cynic way of life.—Diogenes Laertius
Come up with specific ways to train. In summertime, Diogenes used to roll in his wine-jar house over hot sand. And in wintertime, he used to hug statues of men covered with snow. He practiced endurance in every way.—Diogenes Laertius
Need or desire reduction. Train yourselves to need very little—for this is closest to god, while the opposite is farthest.—Crates of Thebes
Look down on unnecessary things. When you train to look down on poverty, a bad reputation, low birth, and exile, you will live blessedly. . . . Otherwise, you will live miserably.—Diogenes of Sinope
Be content with simple things; practice self-sufficiency. Diogenes used to teach the boys in his care to supply their own needs, and to be content with simple food and water to drink.—Diogenes Laertius
Cultivate contentment with little. Do not be distressed, father, that I call myself a dog, and I clothe myself with a doubled over tattered cloak, and I carry a leather bag over my shoulders, and I have a staff in my hand. It is not fitting to be upset by such matters. Instead, be delighted that your son is content with little.—Diogenes of Sinope
Practice rejection. Diogenes once begged alms from a statue. When asked why he did this, he said, “To practice being rejected.”—Diogenes Laertius
Go your own way (not with the crowd). Diogenes was going into a theater while everyone else was going out in the opposite direction. When someone asked him why, he said, “This is what I practice doing every day of my life.”—Diogenes Laertius
Stand apart from what people say. When Antisthenes was applauded by bad men, he said, “I’m afraid that I have done something wrong.” One man said to him, “The many praise you.” In response, he said, “Why? What wrong have I done?”—Diogenes Laertius
Reputation. A bad reputation is a good thing.—Antisthenes
Reinterpretation. When someone reminded Diogenes that the citizens of Sinope had sentenced him to exile, he said, “And I sentenced them to stay there.”—Diogenes Laertius
A real human being. Diogenes lit a lamp in the middle of the day and walked around saying, “I’m searching for a human being.”—Diogenes Laertius
Wealth and evil. Wealth is the origin of all evils.—Diogenes of Sinope
Where blame belongs. We blame everything else more than we do our own irritability and unhappiness. . . . We blame old age, poverty, chance encounters, the day, the season, the place. . . . Many mad men lay the blame on circumstances rather than on themselves.—Teles the Cynic
A trouble-free life is impossible. I have concluded from my own life that we human beings are distressed whenever we wish to live a problem-free life. But this is impossible! For by necessity we live with the body, and by necessity we also live with human beings.—Crates of Thebes
Meet circumstances as they are. One should not attempt to change circumstances; rather, one should get ready for them as they are. Do this as sailors do. They don’t try to change the winds and the sea. Instead, they ready themselves so that they are able to respond to these things.—Teles the Cynic
Jealousy. As iron is devoured by rust, so are jealous people consumed by their own jealousy.—Antisthenes
The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus: Pocket Edition
including the ideas, teachings, & sayings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus
$14.95
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The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus
For well over half a millennium, and later, the teachings of Epicurus (341-270 BC) and Epicureanism furnished the guiding light for a great number of human souls.
His was a new way of looking at things that could explain reality, calm fears, and provide tranquility.
As the Roman Torquatus later testified, “Epicurus has guided all sane-minded men into the paths of peace and happiness, calmness and repose.” He continues to enlighten people today, inspiring many to practice a better way of life.
Sourced from Epicurus himself and other ancient writers such as Diogenes Laertius, Cicero, Athenaeus of Naucratis, Julian, and Sextus Empiricus, The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus: Pocket Edition presents the ideas, teachings, and sayings of Epicurus separated into 50 topics for contemplation and practice.
Also included is a brief introduction to Epicurus, as well as a 12-point Epicurean plan of life, ways to practice following Epicurus, and conversation starters sparked by his words.
Carry The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus: Pocket Edition in your pocket and return to it again and again. The benefit you’ll experience has been time-tested and people-approved.
Here are sample points from The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus
The following points come from The Wisdom & Way of Epicurus. The italicized words describe or sum up the point.
The time for philosophy is now. Let no one put off studying philosophy when he is young, nor become weary of it when he is old, for no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. To suggest that the time for studying philosophy has not yet come or that it is long gone is like saying that it is too early or too late for happiness.
Do philosophy. We must not merely pretend to practice philosophy; rather, we must actually do it. For we do not merely need the appearance of health, but true health.
Ponder the goal of life. The better man is the one who has considered the natural goal of life. . . . The goal of a blessedly happy life is to secure bodily health and mental tranquility.
Rise to happiness with a friend. Friendship dances around the world of men calling out to all of us, “Rise up to happiness!”
Practice happiness. We must practice those things that produce happiness since if happiness is present, we possess everything, and if it is not, we do everything to acquire it.
Seize the day. We come into being only once and will not be born a second time. Rather, we necessarily will never exist again―forever. And though you have no power over tomorrow, you put off feeling joy today. Life is consumed by such indecision and procrastination! And so, each one of us is dying without engaging in life today.
Focus on what is absolutely necessary. Our one need is to live undisturbed, without trouble. We have come to the point where our life has no need for non-rational and empty opinion.
Do not seek what cannot procure tranquility. Soul-disturbance is not resolved, nor is true joy produced, by the possession of the greatest wealth, nor by the honor and admiration of the many, nor by any other thing that is the result of indefinite factors.
Know the basic kinds of desire. Of the desires, some are natural, and some are groundless. Of the natural desires, some are necessary, and some are merely natural. And of the necessary desires, some are necessary for happiness, some for freeing the body from disturbance, and some for living itself.
Be aware of the nature of unnecessary desire. Unnecessary desires are those that lead to no pain if they remain unsatisfied. They involve an appetite that is easily relieved whenever its satisfaction is hard to procure or when it seems likely to cause harm.
Strive to obey nature when satisfying your desires. We must obey nature rather than doing violence to her. We will obey nature by satisfying the necessary desires and the natural desires, too, as long as they do no harm, but sharply rejecting the harmful desires.
Realize the difference between natural and groundless things. Everything natural is easy to get, but whatever is groundless is hard.
Know the parameters of the need for pleasure. We have the need for pleasure only when we feel pain due to the absence of pleasure. When we feel no pain, however, there is no need for pleasure. For this reason, we say that pleasure is the beginning point and goal of living happily. We recognize that pleasure is our first good, present at birth, and that it is the beginning point of every choice and avoidance. We resort to pleasure when we use feeling as the measure for judging every good.
Know the measure of pleasure. The standard measure for the greatest amount of pleasure is the removal of every pain. Whenever pleasure is present, as long as it lasts, there is neither pain nor distress nor both together.
Understand how pleasure may increase (or not). Pleasure in the flesh will not increase after need-based pain is removed. After that, pleasure may only be varied.
When to choose pleasure and when to allow pain—know the advantages and disadvantages. Even though pleasure is our first and inborn good, we nevertheless do not choose every pleasure. Rather, we oftentimes forgo many pleasures when a greater annoyance will follow from choosing them. And oftentimes we acknowledge that many pains are better than many pleasures when an even greater pleasure follows from patiently enduring these pains for a long period of time. And so, even though every pleasure is naturally good and fitting, not every pleasure is to be chosen. In the same way, even though every pain is bad, not every pain is always to be avoided. To be sure, we may aptly judge every case by measuring one feeling in comparison with the other and taking a look at the advantages and disadvantages of both sides. Sometimes we treat a good thing as though it is bad. On the other hand, sometimes we treat a bad thing as though it is good.
(True) pleasure as the absence of pain and trouble—and the need for reason. When we say that pleasure is the beginning point and goal of life, we do not mean the pleasures of decadent men or the pleasures of sensuality, as some ignorant persons believe, or those who do not agree with us, or those who have willfully misrepresented our position. Rather, by pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul.
Realize the good of self-sufficiency. We regard self-sufficiency as a great good not so that we may enjoy just a little in every case, but so that when things are scarce, we may nevertheless be satisfied with little, genuinely persuaded that the ones who derive the greatest pleasure from luxury are the ones who need it the least, and that everything natural is easy to get, but whatever is groundless is hard.
Simple food (versus gourmet or rich food). Simple food gives just as much pleasure as rich food does as soon as the hunger pains are gone. A barley cake and water offer the highest possible pleasure when they are given to a hungry man. Getting used to simple and inexpensive food, therefore, aids the health of a man and enables him to perform the necessary requirements of life with resolution. Not only that, but such a habit better disposes us for when we encounter extravagant fare now and again, and makes us fearless in the face of fortune.
The benefit of (just) enough. Epicurus declares that if he has enough bread, then he is not inferior to the gods regarding happiness.
Enjoy what is present. You must not ruin what is present by a longing for what is absent; rather, keep in mind that these things were what you previously desired.
Be satisfied with enough. Nothing is enough for someone for whom enough is very little.
Practical wisdom and other virtues. Practical wisdom is the greatest good. For this reason, we value practical wisdom even more than philosophy. Every other virtue is produced from practical wisdom, teaching us that we cannot live pleasantly without living wisely, nobly, and justly―just as we cannot live wisely, nobly, and justly without living pleasantly. The virtues have become one with living pleasantly. Living pleasantly is inseparable from the virtues.
The rational life is one pursuing nature’s goal. If at any moment you do not direct each of your actions to the goal of life indicated by nature, but, instead, you turn aside to some other goal in the act of pursuing some object or avoiding it, your activity will not be consistent with the conclusions drawn from reason.
Pursue friendship for the sake of happiness. Of all the means that are procured by wisdom to ensure blessed happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is the acquisition of friendship.
Reputation. The approval of others is necessarily their own business. As for us, we must get on with our own healing.
Peace leads to peace. The man who is free from disturbance within himself is no trouble to another man.
Death means nothing to us. Death―that evil which most causes us to shudder―means nothing to us since when we exist, death is not present, and when death is present, we do not exist. In fact, death means nothing either to the living or to those who have finished living since it does not exist for the former, and the latter no longer exist.
The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics: Pocket Edition
including the ideas, teachings, & sayings of the ancient Greek early Stoic philosophers
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The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics
The ancient Greek Stoics and Stoicism influenced countless men and women in ancient Greece and Rome.
Although extraordinary in both its ideas and demands, ancient Stoicism was in many ways an ordinary affair, counseling full engagement with ordinary life. The ancient Stoics wanted to think well in order to understand nature. And that in order to live in accord with nature, reason, and virtue. All in order to be happy.
The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics: Pocket Edition presents the ideas, teachings, and sayings of the ancient Greek early Stoics separated into 63 topics for contemplation and practice.
Also included is a brief introduction to the early Stoics, as well as a 12-point early Stoic plan of life, ways to practice following the early Stoics, and conversation starters sparked by their words.
Carry The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics in your pocket and return to it again and again. The benefit you’ll experience has been time-tested and people-approved.
$14.95
Here are sample points from The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics
The following points come from The Wisdom & Way of the Early Stoics. The italicized words describe or sum up the point. The source for each is listed at the end.
Shoot for the goal of life. The goal of life is to live in conformity with nature—that is, with our own nature as well as with the nature of the whole cosmos. Accordingly, one holds back from every action forbidden by the law common to all things—that is to say, the right reason that pervades all things and is the same as Zeus, who leads the administration of every existing thing. This very thing is the virtue of the happy man and the good flow of life, when all actions promote the harmony of the divine power dwelling in each man with the will of the administrator of the whole cosmos.—Diogenes Laertes (DL from now on)
Follow nature and virtue. Living in accord with virtue is equivalent to living in accord with the experience of nature as it actually happens.—Chrysippus of Soli
Realize the ubiquity of mind. Mind pervades every part of the cosmos just as the soul pervades every part of us.—Chrysippus of Soli
Study philosophy to be virtuous and happy. If, then, it is true that all the good and none but the good are happy, what possession is greater than philosophy, or what is more divine than virtue?—Cato (Cicero)
Long for philosophy; deliberately choose a noble life. If anyone has longed for philosophy, turning away from well-known pleasure that renders effeminate the souls of some of the young, it is clear that he is inclined to nobility of life not only by nature but by deliberate choice.—Zeno of Citium
Study dialectic so as not to be thrown. Without the study of dialectic, the wise man cannot guard himself in argument so that, as in a wrestling match, he will never be thrown. This is because the study of dialectic enables him to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and to judge well between what is plausible and what is ambiguously expressed. And without the study of dialectic, the wise man cannot methodically ask questions and give answers.—DL
How dialectic guards us. Dialectic offers a method that guards us against giving assent to any falsehood or ever being tricked by deceptive probability. And it enables us to maintain and to defend the truths that we have learned about good and bad things. . . . Without the art of dialectic any man may be tricked and led away from what is true or actual toward what is false or deceptive. If, therefore, thoughtlessness and ignorance are in all matters faulty and full of misfortune, then the art that removes them is correctly termed “virtue.”—Cato (Cicero)
Act in accord with nature and reason. The goal of life is to act with sound reason in the selection of those things that follow nature.—DL
Act in accord with nature and virtue. The end or goal of life is to live in agreement with nature, which is the same as living in accord with virtue since nature leads us toward virtue.—Zeno of Citium
The good (for human beings) is a kind of fulfillment. “The fulfillment or perfection of a rational being as a rational being following nature” is another particular definition the Stoics give for the good. Virtue is such a perfection since acts done according to virtue and excellent men are participants in virtue, as are its accompanying byproducts, joy and merriment and like things.—DL
Do your duty. The goal of life is to live while carrying out every duty, that is, whatever is appropriate.—Archedemus of Tarsus
Nature’s gifts to plants and animals (including humans). We observe that nature sustains things that spring up from the earth (plants). For these, nature grants nothing more than the ability to nourish themselves and to grow. To animals she gives sensation and motion, together with a kind of appetite or desire that draws them toward health-giving things and withdraws them from destructive things.—Balbus (Cicero)
How nature regulates and sustains plants and animals (and humans). The Stoics declare that nature originally made no difference between plants and animals. Nature regulates the life of plants without the use of impulse and sensation, just as certain plant-like processes go on in us. But for animals, impulse was added to this general rule of nature later on. Impulse makes animals pursue what is suitable. Nature’s rule for animals is to follow the direction of impulse.—DL
Our first impulse (as animals) is to self-preservation. The Stoics say that an animal’s first impulse is to self-preservation since nature endears the animal to itself from the beginning.—Chrysippus of Soli
Know why we (animals) act. We Stoics must assert that nature has made the animal so that it is near and dear to itself. As such, it pushes away all that is harmful and pulls near all that is suitable and fitting.—DL
Pleasure is not the goal of impulse. The Stoics declare false the assertion—made by some—that the first urge or impulse of animals is directed toward pleasure. By contrast they say that pleasure, if it is anything at all, is a byproduct that never comes until nature by itself has sought and taken those things suitable to the animal’s constitution—a byproduct that is comparable to animals that have a cheerful expression and plants that are luxuriant or in full bloom.—DL
We humans should shape our (animal) impulses by means of reason. Impulse makes animals pursue what is suitable. Nature’s rule for animals is to follow the direction of impulse. . . . For those beings we call rational, the rational life correctly became the natural life when reason was given to them by means of a more perfect rule. Reason was added to shape impulse as a skilled craftsman.—DL
We humans should control our (animal) impulses by means of reason. To animals nature gives sensation and motion, together with a kind of appetite or desire that draws them toward health-giving things and withdraws them from destructive things. She gives even more than this to human beings. For them, she added reason, by which the appetites or desires of the soul are controlled—sometimes giving them free rein and sometimes holding them back.—Balbus (Cicero)
Follow those impulses that spur you on to fitting, rational, virtuous acts. Of actions done in relation to impulse, some are fitting, some are not fitting, and some are neither fitting nor are they not fitting. Those acts that are fitting are the ones that reason within us seizes upon and chooses to do, such as honoring one’s parents, brothers, sisters, and homeland, and adapting oneself to and spending time with one’s friends. . . . It is always fitting to live in accord with virtue.—DL
Virtue is fulfillment. Virtue is in one sense the perfection of anything in general, say of a statue. Virtue may be non-intellectual, such as health, or intellectual, such as practical wisdom.—DL
Virtue is the only good, noble, beautiful thing. Virtue of the soul is the only good. . . . The only beautiful or noble thing is a good thing— this is virtue and whatever participates in virtue. . . . Virtue itself, and whatever participates in virtue, is spoken of as good in three ways: one, as the source from which the benefit results; two, as that according to which the benefit results—for example, the action done according to virtue; and three, as that by the agency of which the benefit results—for example, the excellent man who participates in virtue.—Athenaeus the epigrammatist and DL (Hecaton, Chrysippus)
Things indifferent. Things that are neither good nor bad are those things that neither benefit nor harm—things such as life, health, pleasure, beauty, strength, wealth, good reputation, and noble birth, as well as their opposites, death, disease, pain, ugliness, weakness, poverty, bad reputation, low birth, and the like.—DL
Of indifferent things, prefer things with value. Regarding indifferent things, they say that some are preferred and some are not preferred—that is, they are rejected. Those things that have value are preferred, while those that do not have value are rejected.—DL
What it means to benefit or harm. To benefit is to move or to restrain oneself or something in accord with virtue. To harm is to move or to restrain oneself or something in accord with vice.—DL
Choose virtue and be happy. Virtue is a harmonious disposition, choiceworthy for its own sake—not from fear or hope or any external motive. Happiness consists in virtue, which is the state of the soul that tends to make the whole of life harmonious.—DL
Seek completion in virtue. There is nothing between virtue and vice, for all human beings have inducements from nature toward virtue. And, according to Cleanthes, humans are like half lines of iambic verse, so that if they are incomplete or unfinished, they are base, but if they are brought to perfection, they are excellent.—Johannes Stobaeus
We truly can become better. That virtue can be taught is clear from the case of base men becoming good. . . . The proof that virtue really exists is the fact that Socrates, Diogenes, and Antisthenes, as well as their followers, made moral progress.—DL and Posidonius of Apamea
There are primary and secondary virtues. Among the virtues, some are primary, and some are subordinate to these. The following are the primary virtues: practical wisdom, courage, justice, and moderation. Specific virtues are magnanimity, self-control, patient endurance, ready-mindedness, and good counsel.—DL
There are primary and secondary vices. Vice exists as the opposite of virtue. . . . Among the vices, some are primary, and some are subordinate. Folly, cowardice, injustice, and immoderation are primary, and lack of self-control, slow-mindedness, and bad counsel are subordinate.—DL
Passions good and bad. The Stoics say that there are three good passions: joy, caution, and willing. . . . There are four major kinds of (bad) passions: grief, fear, desire, and pleasure.—DL
Violent passions are irrational and thus unnatural. The terms “irrational” and “unnatural” do not mean what they commonly mean. Rather, “irrational” is the same as “disobedient to reason.” For every passion is forceful—as those who are in a state of passion often see that it is beneficial not to act in such a way, but they are carried off by the violence of the passion as though by some disobedient horse. And so they are led to do it.—Johannes Stobaeus
Be wise, seek improvement. Wise men are genuinely earnest for and attentive to their own improvement, employing a manner of life that hides the base away while making what good there is in things appear.—DL
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We’ve searched ancient Greek literature and have gathered what is best of the wisdom on offer and the many proposed ways of life. We’ve done this so that, as the philosopher Epicurus said, “We may keep in mind the principal teachings” of the Greeks in order to “practice those things which produce happiness.”
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