Stoic Meditations

Massimo Pigliucci

Occasional reflections on the wisdom of Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers with Prof. Massimo Pigliucci. Complete index by author and source at https://massimopigliucci.org/stoic-podcast/. (cover art by Marek Škrabák; original music by Ian Jolin-Rasmussen).

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1,094 episodes
Updated Aug 23, 2022

Episodes1094

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Nov 22, 2019 · 2 min
494. Abstain from action when under the spell of anger
While you are angry, you ought not to be allowed to do anything. Why?, do you ask? Because when you are angry there is nothing that you do not wish to be allowed to do.
Nov 21, 2019 · 2 min
493. Humor, not anger
It is said that Socrates when he was given a box on the ear, merely said that it was a pity a man could not tell when he ought to wear his helmet out walking.
Nov 20, 2019 · 2 min
492. Practical steps to curb your anger
Do something that relaxes you, change your environment to make it soothing, and most importantly don't engage in anything major if you are tired, stressed, or hungry.
Nov 19, 2019 · 2 min
491. Be careful with the company you keep
We should live with the quietest and easiest-tempered persons, not with anxious or with sullen ones: for our own habits are copied from those with whom we associate.
Nov 18, 2019 · 2 min
490. Anger betrays what is best in humanity
Anger pays a penalty at the same moment that it exacts one: it forswears human feelings. The latter urge us to love, anger urges us to hatred: the latter bid us do good, anger bids us do harm.
Nov 15, 2019 · 3 min
489. The difference between anger and other negative emotions
Other vices affect our judgment, anger affects our sanity. Its intensity is in no way regulated by its origin: for it rises to the greatest heights from the most trivial beginnings.
Nov 14, 2019 · 2 min
488. The awful things we do when angered
Men, frantic with rage, call upon heaven to slay their children, to reduce themselves to poverty, and to ruin their houses, and yet declare that they are not either angry or insane.
Nov 13, 2019 · 2 min
487. It takes two to have a fight
If anyone is angry with you, meet their anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two people to fight.
Nov 12, 2019 · 2 min
486. On revenge and retaliation
Revenge and retaliation are words which men use and even think to be righteous, yet they do not greatly differ from wrong-doing.
Nov 11, 2019 · 3 min
485. Think of everything, expect everything
People think some things unjust because they ought not to suffer them, and some because they did not expect to suffer them: we think what is unexpected is beneath our deserts.
Nov 8, 2019 · 2 min
484. Don't rush to judgment, give time to reason to do its work
Is it a good person who has wronged you? Do not believe it. Is it a bad one? Do not be surprised at this; by their sin they have already punished themselves.
Nov 7, 2019 · 2 min
483. We have other people’s vices before our eyes, and our own behind our backs
Someone will be said to have spoken ill of you; think whether you did not first speak ill of them; think of how many persons you have yourself spoken ill.
Nov 6, 2019 · 2 min
482. It is foolish to be angry at your computer
We are so foolish that we actually get angry at inanimate objects, who neither deserve nor feel our anger. But in fact, no one deserves our anger: not animals, not children, and not even adults.
Nov 5, 2019 · 2 min
481. Fake anger vs real anger
Often the pretense of passion will do what the passion itself could not have done. Sometimes, it may be effective to fake anger. Just don't make the mistake of actually becoming angry.
Nov 4, 2019 · 2 min
480. Reason and goodness are candles in the dark
We need a long-breathed struggle against permanent and prolific evils; not, indeed, to quell them, but merely to prevent their overpowering us.
Nov 1, 2019 · 2 min
479. Forgiveness first and foremost
To avoid being angry with individuals, you must pardon the whole mass, you must grant forgiveness to the entire human race.
Oct 31, 2019 · 2 min
478. The nature of emotions
The Stoics’ opinion is that anger can venture upon nothing by itself, without the approval of mind. It follows that we are in charge, not whatever circumstances happen to trigger our initial reactions.
Oct 30, 2019 · 2 min
477. The difference between reason and anger
Reason wishes to give a just decision; anger wishes its decision to be thought just.
Oct 29, 2019 · 2 min
476. Anger is not a weapon, it's a liability
Seneca uses Aristotle's own analogy between negative emotions and weapons to show that it is flawed: we control our weapons, but destructive emotions control us.
Oct 28, 2019 · 2 min
475. A good judge condemns wrongful acts, but does not hate them
People who do wrong should be treated like sick patients. By all means, restrain them if they are liable to hurt others. But do not be angry with them. They need help.