How to Control Absolutely Everything
The weather has not read your itinerary. Separate a useful action from an outcome you cannot guarantee.
Series 1 · The Stoics
Ancient ideas.
Present-day
nonsense.
Four ways to ruin a perfectly ordinary day.
And a few ways to reconsider.
Qualifications under review.
A very short introduction
Who were the Stoics?
Stoicism began in Athens around 300 BCE with Zeno of Citium. Its name comes from the painted porch where the early school met. Later Roman-era figures include Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius.
Their philosophy joined logic, an account of nature, and ethics. They asked how to live well in a world we cannot arrange entirely to our liking.
Epictetus, once enslaved, became a teacher. His pupil Arrian recorded his teachings. He is our starting point for Episode 1.
Background: Stoicism and Epictetus — sources and context.
The ideas beneath the jokes
What did they believe?
For the Stoics, virtue—wisdom, justice, courage and moderation—was central to living well. Wealth and reputation could not substitute for good character. Humans had responsibilities to one another.
They urged living in agreement with nature, understood as a rationally ordered whole. Their teaching was much wider than a technique for staying calm. They distinguished destructive passions from good feelings; the ideal was not an unfeeling robot.
Context: our historical sources and further reading.
Our small corner of it
We’re using selected ideas to examine everyday behaviour. These are modern applications, not a complete account of Stoicism or a claim that every ancient view should be adopted.
Including the man presenting it
What we hope to take from it
A little more space between something happening and our magnificent response. The habit of checking a story before believing it. A clearer idea of what we can do next, and a little more fairness towards other people.
Craig is practising too. The person explaining the lesson has not been granted an exemption from needing it.
Start small: one message, one assumption, one reply you won’t need to explain away tomorrow. Feeling hurt is not failure. Setting a boundary can be a sensible response.
The collection · four episodes planned
The Stoics
How to Take Everything Personally
Someone says “Fine.” You supply the screenplay.
Read the episode notes →How to Let One Idiot Ruin Your Day
A rude comment receives six hours of unpaid attention. Practise the pause before retaliation.
How to Prepare for a Life That Never Starts
Another notebook will surely fix it. Try putting one useful idea into practice.
A working collection, not a release timetable. Read the sources and editorial notes →