Field Notes — Where the Text Gets Strange
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WHAT IS A KING–THE ROOM DEFINES THE KING
What Is a King? — Section 1 of 6 The Room Defines the King There is something a great director understands that most people never consciously notice: the room a king enters tells you everything about the kind of king…
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VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED
Very Little Is Needed “Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations I read that line for the first time years ago and filed it under things that sound true but are easy…
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NO HARM NO FOUL
“Do away with the opinion I am harmed, and the harm is cast away too. Do away with being harmed, and harm disappears.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 4.7 This is one of the harder Stoic positions to sit with honestly.…
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THE MIND IS ITS OWN PLACE
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius The title comes from Milton. In Paradise Lost, Satan speaks those words in hell — “The mind is its own…
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DON’T GET LOST IN OTHER PEOPLE’S MINDS
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.4 Marcus catches something here that most self-help content spends hundreds of pages…
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THE BUSINESS OF BUSYNESS
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” — Henry David Thoreau This one is a Thoreau quote but it sits comfortably in Stoic territory. Marcus and Seneca both…
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YOU ARE THE PROJECT
“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” — Epictetus Most of the things I worry about are outside my control. The outcomes of conversations…
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SPEND THRIFTS OF TIME
“No person would give up even an inch of their estate, and the slightest dispute with a neighbor can mean hell to pay; yet we easily let others encroach on our lives — worse, we often pave the way for…
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WASHING AWAY THE DUST OF LIFE
“Watch the stars in their courses and imagine yourself running alongside them. Think constantly on the changes of the elements into each other, for such thoughts wash away the dust of earthly life.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.47 There is…
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REAL GOOD IS SIMPLE
“If you would first start by setting your mind upon things that are unquestionably good — wisdom, self-control, justice, courage — with this preconception you’ll no longer be able to listen to the popular refrain that there are too many…