Why I Am Not a Stoic
Ever since the release of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck back in 2016, many people have compared my work to Stoicism. Some have even gone as far as to say that my work is merely regurgitating Stoicism with a couple cool stories and F-bombs thrown in to spice things up.
Initially, I found this amusing. I had read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations in college, as well as bits and pieces of Seneca. But other than that, I knew very little about the Stoics when I wrote the book. Since then, however, I’ve learned quite a lot more, and the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve realized that (and sorry to rain on your parade) I’m not a Stoic.
So what I’m going to do is give you a brief overview of Stoicism, look at its basic tenets, and then discuss the ideas I agree with and the ideas that I don’t. I’ll then finish the article by talking a bit more about my philosophical background—which isn’t Stoicism—but rather Buddhism and Existentialism. And then, of course, I’ll cover how these philosophies differ from Stoicism.
Get your nerd hat ready, because …
Hey, sorry to interrupt…
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