The Goal of This Post

This post is an excerpt from the book The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday.
In this post, I share some of my favorite passages from the month of February, with a focus on Passions and Emotions.

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February: Passions and Emotions

February 1st: For the Hot-Headed Man

“Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”

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February 4th: On Being Invincible

“Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.”

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February 6th: Don’t Seek Out Strife

“I don’t agree with those who plunge headlong into the middle of the flood and who, accepting a turbulent life, struggle daily in great spirit with difficult circumstances. The wise person will endure that, but won’t choose it – choosing to be at peace, rather than at war.”

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February 9th: You Don’t Have to Have an Opinion

“We have the power to hold no opinion about a thing and to not let it upset our state of mind – for things have no natural power to shape our judgements.”

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February 12th: Protect Your Peace of Mind

“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?”

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February 17th: The Enemy of Happiness

“It is quite impossible to unite happiness with a yearning for what we don’t have. Happiness has all that it wants, and resembling the well-fed, there shouldn’t be hunger or thirst.”

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February 18th: Prepare for the Storm

“This is the true athlete – the person in rigorous training against false impressions. Remain firm, you who suffer, don’t be kidnapped by your impressions! The struggle is great, the task divine – to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility.”

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February 22nd: What’s Better Left Unsaid

“Cato practiced the kind of public speech capable of moving the masses, believing proper political philosophy takes care like any great city to maintain the warlike element. But he was never seen practicing in front of others, and no one ever heard him rehearse a speech. When he was told that people blamed him for his silence, he replied, ‘Better they not blame my life. I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid.’”

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February 24th: The Real Source of Harm

“Keep in mind that it isn’t the one who has it in for you and takes a swipe that harms you, but rather the harm comes from your own belief about the abuse. So when someone arouses your anger, know that it’s really your own opinion fueling it. Instead, make it your first response not to be carried away by such impressions, for with time and distance self-mastery is more easily achieved.”

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February 27th: Cultivating Indifference Where Others Grow Passion

“Of all the things that are, some are good, some are bad, and yet others indifferent. The good are virtues and all that share in them; the bad are the vices and all that indulge them; the indifferent lie in between virtue and vice and include wealth, health, life, death, pleasure, and pain.”

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All content credit goes to the author. I’ve shared the bits I’ve enjoyed the most and found most useful.

Cheers ’till next time! Saludos!
Alberto