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How To Be a Badass According to Cicero

7/27/2017

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I'm often impressed by the fortitude displayed by some of the philosophers and statesmen of the Classical world. Socrates, Musonius Rufus, Seneca, Cato, and many others faced incredible challenges. The magnitude of the events they experienced – war, imprisonment, exile, the untimely death of loved ones, political assassination and so forth, make most of my problems seem inconsequential.

The Roman statesman Cicero is no exception. Cicero is remembered more for having been a great orator, interpreter of Greek philosophy, and a philosopher in his own right, rather than an as iron-willed sage or near sage like the Stoic Cato the younger. Yet Cicero seems to have been tough enough in the face of hardship. He was exiled, betrayed by his longtime wife, endured the sudden untimely death of his favorite daughter, and was eventually assassinated on account of his support for the Republic and opposition to Caesar and Mark Anthony.

Cicero was named an enemy of the state, yet he enjoyed popular support and was hidden from his persecutors for a time. When they finally caught up with him, he is reported to have said, “There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly.” He bowed to his captors, leaning his head out in a gladiatorial gesture indicating that he wouldn't resist.[1]

That sounds pretty tough to me. Cicero tried to subordinate the intellectual or theoretical exercise of philosophy to a life of virtuous practice.[2] He was an unceasing supporter of the Republic and fearless when faced with his own death. It is on this basis – considering the example Cicero set by his actions – that we might learn something about being mentally strong from his eclectic philosophy. Here are 5 great pieces of advice on fortitude from Cicero's mouth:



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The 13 Types of Modern Stoics...Which One are You?

7/1/2017

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I'm happy to publish this guest post on the modern Stoic Renaissance by Piotr Stankiewicz, Ph.D., an author and teacher affiliated with the University of Warsaw. He authored a bestselling Polish handbook on Stoicism (“Sztuka życia według stoików”) which he is working on making available in English. He advances Stoic and non-Stoic agendas in his native Polish. 

*Update 2022: Since this post was published 5 years ago, there have been numerous comments on it. I would like to make very clear that first, the author is himself a modern Stoic, and second, that he intended this post to be somewhat humorous. You may love it or hate it, but do understand that this post is not supposed to be solemn and serious: 

The problem of how Stoicism can be applied to contemporary life is not an easy one - there is no wide consensus. The question marks are plenty and easy solutions are nowhere to be found. People explore the Stoic possibilities of the 21st century in a plethora of ways and we can run into a great many types of modern Stoics out there. Thus, here is a travel companion, a short list of fellow Stoics. It’s by no means exhaustive, since I was only able to describe the paths I’ve travelled myself. And this allows a bit of (nonstoic?) exaggeration and humor – since it’s all on no one else but me.
 
So, what types of modern Stoics do we have?



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    Thank you for your interest in Common Sense Ethics! I'm Leah, a librarian, editor and freelance writer with a background in history and philosophy.
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