The Wisdom of Stoicism - Reviewing the life and works of the greatest Stoics

Stoicism is one of the greatest schools of philosophy to come to us through the ages.

It was somewhere in the 3rd century BC that it was founded by Zeno. A wealthy merchant then, Zeno found himself shipwrecked in an important boat trip, which carried a lot of goods he intended to sell. The goods were lost, but Zeno survived, and within him, something started to move. Seeking higher meaning in his life, he went to a library in Athens, and devoured a ton of philosophy, which abounded at the time.

From this, Stoicism was born. Founded by Zeno, it was very different from other philosophies at the time. Whereas others thought about our place in the universe, metaphysics, and other mind-boggling subjects, Stoicism focused on how people should live their lives. It was a "philosophy of the streets", and it spread quickly.

Many great men picked up on this philosophy, and expanded on it tremendously. Want examples?

How about Marcus Aurelius? The last of the Five Good Emperors of Rome, he incorporated Stoicism into his daily life. His work, Meditations, written as his journal, still carries its wisdom till these days.

How about Seneca? This man carved out a tremendous fortune and served as an advisor to Nero, the infamous emperor of Rome. His "Letters from a Stoic" are still read and analyzed to this day as a treasure of Stoicism.

There are others. Epictetus, Zeno, Musonius Rufus... all worthy of being analyzed. And that is what I will set out to do.

First off, I'd like to give a brief overview of this philosophy. Then, I'd like to analyze their works, one by one, and show you their wisdom distilled.

Sound off in the comments whether you agree or not, and tell me what else you'd like to know about this!