How to Be Stoic

An inviting new translation of essential selections from Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, distilling the timeless wisdom of one of Stoicism’s most influential works.

How do you keep calm when the world seems to be falling apart around you? When Marcus Aurelius was emperor, the Roman Empire was at the height of its power and prosperity, but it also suffered flood, famine, plague, and endless wars. He was frequently away from the capitol leading his legions in battle, and he died in an army camp. To cope with the enormous pressures he faced, Marcus Aurelius turned to the philosophy of Stoicism, writing brief passages to reflect on its ideas and strategies for putting challenges in perspective. The result was the Meditations, a profound and moving work about the human condition. Elegant, spiritual, and by turns serious and humorous, this masterpiece of Stoicism still resonates powerfully today. How to Be Stoic offers a fresh, fluid, and engaging translation of its most stirring and important passages.

Gretchen Reydams-Schils, a leading authority on Roman Stoicism, has carefully chosen and skillfully translated passages that exemplify the key themes of the Meditations, from everyday irritations such as encountering difficult people to existential worries such as the fear of death. How to Be Stoic also features a substantial and authoritative introduction and the original Greek text on facing pages. The result is perhaps the most accessible edition of the Meditations available.

About the Author

Marcus Aurelius (121–180 CE) was the last Roman emperor of the Pax Romana and a Stoic philosopher. In addition to his Meditations, some of his correspondence with his rhetoric tutor Fronto has survived.

Gretchen Reydams-Schils is the Michael P. Grace II Professor in the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and holds appointments in classics, philosophy, and theology. She is the author of The Roman Stoics and a coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of Roman Philosophy.