The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

Musonius Rufus’s Lectures emphasizes the need to reject superficial beauty and focus on building strong character, contrasting the purposelessness of wealthy people’s conspicuous spending with the altruistic and disciplined choices of Marcus Aurelius, who sold some of his luxury items to relieve the Roman government’s debt. Epictetus also encouraged people to reject superficial beauty standards and focus on their inner life: “Then what makes a beautiful human being? Isn’t it the presence of human excellence? Young friend, if you wish to be beautiful, then work diligently at human excellence” (140). Similarly, Holiday urges readers to feel less concerned about what other people think about them.

Seneca teaches that it is easier to recognize and calm emotions as they begin than trying to rein them in later on. Holiday warns that when people yield to uncontrolled emotional responses, they often make matters worse: “don’t add angry or negative emotions into the equation. Don’t react for the sake of reacting” (177). This is especially relevant when dealing with disagreements; arguments rarely solve problems, and they can harm our wellbeing and productivity—it is much better to develop their ability to have calm conversations with adversaries.