The Best of Farnam Street 2018
We read for the same reasons we have conversations — to enrich our lives. Reading helps us to think, feel, and reflect — not only upon ourselves and others but upon our ideas, and our relationship …
Marcus Aurelius
How to Remember What You Read
Why is it that some people seem to be able to read a book once and remember every detail of it for life, while others struggle to recall even the title a few days after putting down a book? The answer …
Marcus Aurelius: You Have One Life To Live
The excerpt is from this version online, although if you’re going to read it, get the Hayes translation. Our mental powers should enable us to perceive the swiftness with which all things vanish …
Marcus Aurelius: Debts and Lessons
Marcus Aurelius has been read for 1800 or so years now and he’s arguably just as relevant today as he was when he was ruler of the Roman Empire. “States will never be happy until rulers become …
5 Books That Will Change Your Life
Reading is important. Not only is it one way to fill in the gaps left by formal education but it is a meaningful way to better ourselves. Reading alone, however, isn’t enough. What you read and …
The Stoic Reading List: Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus and More
You know the section of the book after the last chapter? The one that everyone ignores? That’s one of the first things I read as part of a systematic skimming, which allows me to get a feel for …
The Three Disciplines of Stoicism: Life Lessons from a Roman Emperor
The stoics used their understanding of perception, action, and will to create an operating system for life. The Three Disciplines A common thread central to the philosophy of the meditations and …
Much of What You’re Going to Do or Say Today is Not Essential
If you’re a modern knowledge worker, odds are you’re going to go to work, read some emails, reply to some emails, attend some meetings, grab a coffee, have lunch, attend another meeting or two, …
Marcus Aurelius on How to Act and Four Habits of Thought to Eliminate
Some advice from Marcus Aurelius in Meditations: Never under compulsion, out of selfishness, without forethought, with misgivings. Don’t gussy up your thoughts. No surplus words or unnecessary …