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Tag: Stoicism
Books where the characters discuss Stoic Philosophy
We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil.
Steinbeck, East of Eden
One of the most commonly asked questions about Stoicism is whether there are any novels dealing with this philosophy. The question often get quite varied responses, including many references to poker-faced or unemotional characters. There’s a big difference between Batman, let’s say, or Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name”, one the one hand, and Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius, on the other. All over the Internet, people tend to confuse “stoicism” (lowercase), the unemotional personality trait or coping style, with “Stoicism” (capitalized), the ancient Greek philosophy — two quite different things.
This can be very misleading if you’re looking not merely for cold-blooded stoic characters but for stories featuring some of the wisdom from genuine Stoic philosophy. Fortunately, there are a handful of interesting novels, in which characters explicitly discuss the ancient philosophy, or which at least help us to understand the lives of genuine Stoics. These books vary enormously in style and content and will probably appeal to different types of readers. However, they can all contribute something of value to our appreciation of ancient Stoicism.
Read the rest of this article on Medium…
Please feel free to download and share with your friends. This unique PDF guide was written by me, Donald Robertson, with stunning artwork by our award-winning illustrator Zé Nuno Fraga and graphic designer Rocio de Torres. It provides the perfect introduction to the world of Marcus Aurelius as depicted in our new graphic novel Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, which you can order now from all good bookstores.
People often ask for a simple introduction to the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, so we created one especially for you! This booklet draws on research conducted for several books I’ve written or edited about Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism.
- How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius (St. Martins)
- Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius (St. Martins)
- Marcus Aurelius: Ancient Lives (Yale)
- Meditations: The Philosophy Classic (Capstone)
This printable PDF document will give you a good overview of the life of Marcus Aurelius, the times in which he lived and characters who influenced him, as well as the Stoic concepts and practices that shaped his life. As well as key information on Marcus Aurelius and Stoic philosophy, it contains comic book illustrations, genealogical diagrams, study questions, important quotations, and recommended reading.
If you’re a teacher, we’re confident you’ll find this booklet useful as a classroom aid. If you’re just interested in learning more about Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism, it’s a great place to begin before starting to read the classics.
Contents
- The Stoic Goal of Life
- Three Stoic Practices
- Who were the Stoics?
- Who was Marcus Aurelius?
- The Imperial Succession
- Marcus’ Friends
- Marcus’ Enemies
- Questions, Quotes, and Reading
- About the Graphic Novel
If you’re completely new to Stoicism, it’s a good place to start. However, we can’t compress the whole philosophy into a few pages, it’s just a summary, so you will need to read the Stoics to gain a more complete understanding of their concepts and techniques.
If you enjoyed this free guide, please check out our new graphic novel, Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius.
How can we teach our kids some Stoic philosophy?
Stoicism has exploded in popularity over the past couple of decades. One of the questions I’m now asked most frequently, by teachers and parents, is whether there are any good resources available to help kids learn about Stoic philosophy. The answer is YES, although you may need helping finding them.
Basic Lessons
There are many aspects of Stoicism that you could discuss with children but it makes sense to start by focusing on some basic principles. You can demonstrate Stoic philosophy in action quite easily by using what psychologists call the “thinking aloud” technique. This is a form of “cognitive modelling” which lets you show your children how you, the parent, might use simple Stoic ideas to guide your own decisions. For example:
- Some things are up to us and others are not, which you can demonstrate simply by asking of some challenging event “What aspects are up to me?” or “What can and can’t I control about this situation?”
- It’s not things that upset us but rather our opinions about them, which you can model by asking “How might other people view this situation differently?” or “What would be a better way of looking at this whole thing?”
The Stoics taught that it’s better to lead by example than through books and lectures, although there’s a place for both. Kids can’t read your mind, though, so the “thinking aloud” technique can be a useful way to provide a window on your thought processes. That lets you model a healthy way of tackling a problem, which you’d like your kids to gradually learn. This should be done as naturally as possible, of course, so demonstrating a little bit at a time, over a long period, perhaps works best if you’re a parent or teacher.
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Stoicism Web Comics
Below you can read three sample web comics about the Stoic philosophy of Marcus Aurelius that I created with award-winning illustrator Zé Nuno Fraga. Each one links a passage in the Meditations with one of Aesop’s Fables. (Marcus mentions the Town Mouse fable in the Meditations.)
These web comics led to a much bigger project, our graphic novel Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, available now from all good bookstores. See our publisher, St. Martin’s website for details of special offers available if you preorder.
You can click on the web comic images to open them in a new window and should then be able to download them or zoom using your browser.
These are photos of the final print version of Verissimus: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, our graphic novel, which is due for publication by St. Martin’s Press on 14th June in hardback and ebook formats. See the preorder promotion page for special offers if you order now.
A superb graphic novel that provides stunning insights into one of the most interesting figures of antiquity, as well as into the philosophy that guided him throughout his life.
Massimo Pigliucci, author of How to Be a Stoic
More info on where to order Verissimus is available from Macmillan, the publisher’s website. Also see listings in Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Comic stores can order Verissimus from the Diamond Previews World catalogue. Follow our Verissimus Facebook and Instagram pages for updates. Please contact us for podcast interviews and media requests.
About the Author
Donald Robertson is one of my favorite writers about Stoicism.
Ryan Holiday, #1 New York Times bestselling author and founder of The Daily Stoic
Donald Robertson is a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist, who lives in Canada and Greece. He is the author of six books on philosophy and psychotherapy. His bestselling self-help book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor has been translated into eighteen languages.
Zé Nuno Fraga, who created the artwork, is an award-winning illustrator from Portugal. Kasey Pierce, who advised on the content, is an award-winning author and comic book editor.
Preorder Promotion
St. Martin’s are currently running a preorder promotion that means anyone buying Verissimus may be eligible for three different prizes.
Sample Articles and Interviews
Donald has appeared on over 100 podcasts.
- Mythvision Podcast
- Troy Baker’s Let’s Get into it Podcast
- Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom Podcast
- Interview for the Comic Vault
- How I wrote Verissimus on the Good Men Project
- How to Think Like Marcus Aurelius on High Existence Podcast
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Stoics Care Virtual Conference
❤️🔥 I’m speaking about Stoic philosophy and cognitive therapy at the “Stoics Care” virtual conference, which focuses on how #Stoicism teaches us to care wisely about the world around us. Registration is free. Come and join us.
Check out this video of me reading from my viral (!) article on Marcus Aurelius and the pandemic, published in The Guardian newspaper. You can read the article online, and feel free to share the link. Please follow our new @verissimusgraphicnovel Instagram account, if you want to see more content like this. Thanks!
