Quotations are a big part of me. Not only in my search for who I am, but in my learning and inspiration from others. I can’t emphasize enough on how important “Philosophers” at SubStack“ is, and has been to me.
I have been asked which quotes are meaningful to me (it all depends again) Here are some recent ones:
“Nobody can teach me who I am. You can describe parts of me, but who I am - and what I need - is something I have to find out myself.”
— Chinua Achebe (1930–2013)
The Stoics weren't the only ancient practitioners of journaling. Socrates famously stated that "the unexamined life is not worth living".
“Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.” —Epictetus
"Persist and resist. Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder." — Epictetus
It’s as Marcus Aurelius wrote,
“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."
"Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it." — Epictetus
"To live a good life: We have the potential for it. If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference." — Marcus Aurelius
“Every empire suffers from hubris, arrogance and condescension, and therefore a moral blindness. That's true of the American empire, it was true of the British Empire earlier, and it will certainly be true of the Chinese Empire in the future.”
–Cornel West
“Our rulers at the present day, with their machines and their preachers, are all occupied in putting into our heads the preposterous notion that activity rather than contemplation is the object of life.”
— John Cowper Powys (1872–1963)
“Many people feel they are powerless to do anything effective with their lives. It takes courage to break out of the settled mold, but most find conformity more comfortable. This is why the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.”
— Rollo May (1909–1994)
Power of Cognitive Defusion
Modern psychological research offers a technique that complements Stoic wisdom perfectly: cognitive defusion. This approach, central to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, involves creating distance between yourself and your thoughts.
Instead of thinking "I'm a failure," try "I'm having the thought that I'm a failure." This subtle shift acknowledges the thought while preventing it from defining you. It's remarkably similar to Marcus Aurelius's practice of objective observation, stepping back to see our impressions as separate from our essential selves.
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.”
~ Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117)
The true Enlightenment thinker, the true rationalist, never wants to talk anyone into anything. No, he does not even want to convince; all the time he is aware that he may be wrong. Above all, he values the intellectual independence of others too highly to want to convince them in important matters. He would much rather invite contradiction, preferably in the form of rational and disciplined criticism. He seeks not to convince but to arouse — to challenge others to form free opinions.”
— Karl Popper
“If you don’t regard what you have as enough, you will never be happy even if you rule the entire world.” – Seneca
“The acquisition of riches has been for many men, not an end, but a change, of troubles.” — Epicurus
“At last, then, away with all these treacherous goods! They look better for those who hope for them than to those who have attained them.” — Seneca
"Wealth is the slave of a wise man; the master of a fool." — Seneca
“Accept prosperity with appreciation and moderation,” but…”persuade yourself that you can live happily without it as well as with it.” — Seneca
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” — Epictetus
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IV. The Philosopher-King
From an early age, Alexander showed an intense hunger for knowledge. His father, King Philip, famously secured the finest teacher of the age: Aristotle. Under the philosopher’s instruction, Alexander absorbed lessons in ethics, politics, medicine, literature—every “best thing,” as Plutarch puts it, that Aristotle could offer.
So devoted was he to learning that Alexander once wrote to Aristotle, protesting the publication of his teachings:
“In what shall I surpass other men,” he asked, “if those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all men’s common property?” And yet, he added,“I had rather excel in my acquaintance with the best things than in my power.”
Here we see a remarkable preference: Alexander valued wisdom over domination. Plutarch even reports that Alexander said he loved Aristotle more than his own father,“for the one had given him life, but the other had taught him to live a noble life.”
This reverence for knowledge might seem surprising in a man remembered for military conquest, but it was central to Alexander’s nature. He never set aside his love of learning. On campaign, he carried books as dutifully as weapons. He called Homer’s Iliad a “portable treasure of military virtue,” and kept a special annotated copy beneath his pillow, alongside his dagger. He eagerly received new books sent from Greece, reading them even in the wilds of Asia.
Plutarch also recounts the famous meeting between Alexander and the Cynic philosopher Diogenes. When Alexander approached and asked if he could do anything for him, Diogenes replied, “Yes, stand out of my sun.” The crowd laughed at the philosopher’s boldness, but Alexander admired him.
“If I were not Alexander,” he said, “I would be Diogenes.”
That single line reveals volumes. Even at the height of his power, Alexander could appreciate the man who wanted nothing. He could bow, at least in spirit, to the ideal of the self-sufficient philosopher. In Plutarch’s telling, this was not a conqueror drunk on power, but a king with a philosophical mind—one who knew that wisdom, not empire, was the true prize.
So far, Plutarch has shown us a brilliant, noble, and disciplined young king, a man who loved wisdom, chased glory with purpose, and showed mercy in victory. These virtues made him not just a conqueror, but a ruler who earned loyalty and admiration.
And yet, Plutarch does not leave us with a saint. As Alexander’s fame grew, so did the dangers around him, and within him. The virtues that made him great would soon be tested by success itself. Even the strongest man can stumble when his crown grows heavy.
What were the traps that ensnared Alexander? Let’s see.
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We’ve been told, since childhood, that if we’re decent, honest, humble, and fair, life will reward us in turn. But the world, as we come to realize, often hands failure, injustice, and frustration to those who take this advice too literally. Niccolò Machiavelli, the shrewd Florentine statesman, understood this contradiction better than most and offered this life-changing advice…
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"A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good." — Niccolò Machiavelli
Wow