Caison Britt’s Reviews > The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living > Status Update

“Above all, keep a close watch on this—that you are never so tied to your… friends that you are pulled down to their level. If you don’t, you’ll be ruined… You must choose whether to be loved by these friends and remain the same person, or to become a better person at the cost of those friends...” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.2.1; 4–5

“..the world can control our bodies—we can be thrown in jail or be tossed about by the weather. But the mind? That’s ours. We must protect it. Maintain control over your mind and perceptions, they’d say. It’s your most prized possession.” —Holiday

“Oiêsis, self-deception or arrogant and unchallenged opinion, requires that we hold all our opinions up to hard scrutiny; even our eyes deceive us.” —Holiday

“In public avoid talking often and excessively about your accomplishments and dangers, for however much you enjoy recounting your dangers, it’s not so pleasant for others to hear about your affairs.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 33.14

“..even what we get for free has a cost, if only in what we pay to store it—in our garages and in our minds.” —Holiday

“Don’t fear self-assessment because you’re worried you might have to admit some things about yourself.” —Holiday

“An important place to begin in philosophy is this: a clear perception of one’s own ruling principle.” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 1.26.15

“Seneca was an incredibly wealthy, even famous, man—yet he was a Stoic. He had many material things, yet, as the Stoics say, he was also indifferent to them. He enjoyed them while they were there, but he accepted that they might someday disappear. What a better attitude than desperately craving more or fearfully dreading losing even one penny. Indifference is solid middle ground.” —Holiday