May 14, 2021, 11:00 a.m. ET
Credit...Illustration by Anamaria Morris; photography via ilbusca/istock; Public Domain Review
By Nancy Sherman
Dr. Sherman is a professor of philosophy at Georgetown University and the author of “Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience.”
Modern Stoicism has become an industry. And a mega-industry at that.
For the consumers seeking wisdom on how to live the good life — and there are a lot of them — there are daily digests of Stoic quotations, books and websites packed with Stoic wisdom to kick-start your day, podcasts, broadcasts, online crash courses and more.
In some ways, Stoicism is well suited to a program of self-improvement. It has always been a sort of athletic training for the soul. Founded in the third century B.C.E. by the Greek philosopher Zeno of Citium and mainly associated today with Roman practitioners like the emperor Marcus Aurelius and the statesman Seneca, Stoicism stresses ethics, virtue and the attainment of that elusive good life.