What the Stoics got wrong: a thread.

1/ Let’s first start with what they got right.

The Stoics understood that most of us lived according to this graph, which is an accurate way to describe things: 2/ They knew that expectations made good outcomes feel underwhelming and bad outcomes feel overwhelming.

In order to correct for this, the Stoics wanted you to lower that purple line towards rock bottom. If you expected the worst, you wouldn’t be surprised by anything.

Philosophy can be difficult, so let's make it simple.

In this thread, I'll cover the core ideas of 20 thinkers from the ancient and medieval world.

I'll start with the first known philosopher (Thales) and end with the man who unified reason and faith (Aquinas).

Let's dive in. 1/ It all starts w/Thales.

Thales observed that all life needed water. Seeing this, he concluded that water was the sole substance that the cosmos was made of.

He ended up being wrong, but he was the first thinker to explain the physical world without invoking the supernatural.

Your story's opening sentence has one job:

Get your reader to say, "Okay, go on..."

Here are some ways to accomplish that: 1/ Hook them in using personal experience.

Empathy is at its peak when you share something that happened to you. A personal anecdote piques curiosity faster than anything else.

Example: "A few years ago, I heard a riddle that blew my mind."

Reader: "Okay, go on..."

I have an illustrated story that will change the way you view gratitude.

Let's begin.

1/ Every day you traverse the terrain of life. 2/ On most days, the ground feels pretty damn flat.

You get up each day at a certain time, you have a place to go to, and you see familiar faces.

There's nothing more effective than the structure of a routine, but it often creates the feeling that nothing much happens each day.

Wisdom is the co-existence of contradictory truths.

Here are some of life's great paradoxes: 1/ Be ambitious. But limit desire.

Ambition fuels you toward your potential. But if left unchecked, it will want more than what your potential requires of you.

Be ambitious, but recognize when it asks for unnecessary things.