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  • How to Be a Stoic

  • Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life
  • Written by: Massimo Pigliucci
  • Narrated by: Peter Coleman
  • Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (78 ratings)

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How to Be a Stoic

Written by: Massimo Pigliucci
Narrated by: Peter Coleman
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Publisher's Summary

An engaging guide to how Stoicism - the ancient philosophy of Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius - can provide lessons for living in the modern world

Whenever we worry about what to eat, how to love, or simply how to be happy, we are worrying about how to lead a good life. No goal is more elusive. In How to Be a Stoic, philosopher Massimo Pigliucci offers Stoicism, the ancient philosophy that inspired the great emperor Marcus Aurelius, as the best way to attain it. Stoicism is a pragmatic philosophy that teaches us to act depending on what is within our control and separate things worth getting upset about from those that are not. By understanding Stoicism, we can learn to answer crucial questions. Should we get married or divorced? How should we bank in a world nearly destroyed by a financial crisis? How can we survive great personal tragedy? Whoever you are, Stoicism has something for you - and How to Be a Stoic is your essential guide.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Massimo Pigliucci (P)2017 Hachette Audio

What the critics say

"This is a lucid, engaging, and persuasive book about what it means to pursue Stoic ideals in the here and now. Massimo Pigliucci's imaginary conversations with Epictetus carry the reader effortlessly along while grounding the discussion firmly in the ancient Stoic tradition-and in his own life experience. The result is a compelling picture of a Stoic way of life that is consistent with contemporary science and philosophy, and is both eminently ethical and down-to-earth practical. It will be inviting to Stoics and non-Stoics alike who are willing to reason together seriously about how (and why) to be a modern Stoic." (Lawrence C. Becker, author of A New Stoicism)
"If you want to learn the ways of Stoicism, and you're living in the 21st century, this should be one of the first books you read. Massimo has written a fine primer for the aspiring Marcus Aurelius." (Donald J. Robertson, author of The Philosophy of CBT and Stoicism and the Art of Happiness)
"In this thought-provoking book, Massimo Pigliucci shares his journey of discovering the power of Stoic practices in a philosophical dialogue with one of Stoicism's greatest teachers." (Ryan Holiday, best-selling author of The Obstacle Is the Way and The Daily Stoic)

What listeners say about How to Be a Stoic

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Stoicism for First World Problems

Massimo provides an acceptable introduction to Stoicism as a well as some good background information in regard to the historical roots and modern branches of this tradition. However, the overall work is relatively shallow and poor when compared to the actual philosophical texts which he cites. I suggest reading the original books on the subject first.

Massimo is a professor of philosophy, and what he provides here is a personal account of applying the principles of Stoicism to his own life. The troubles and travails that he uses to relate his application of Stoicism to modern life are all pedestrian; the death of his parents in old age, the minor inconveniences of one who is a successful academic. While I do not wish to denigrate Massimo's personal experience and suffering, I do not feel that it provides adequate scope for the full consideration of the application of Stoicism to modern life.

To be fair, part of my dissatisfaction with this work has to do with the narrator, who's bland and plodding tone rendered this book drier and more boring than it needed to be, like a cut of meat that would have done well if marinated, but was instead grilled to being overdone. Honestly it would have been better if Massimo himself had read it, as his voice is rich and expressive in the parts of the text he does read.

If you would like to learn about Stoicism, I encourage you to read Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, or perhaps Seneca. For a more modern consideration of Stoicism as it applies to life, I strongly encourage you to read "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankel, who was a psychiatrist before he was placed in Auschwitz by the Nazis, and who writes with phenomenal compassion and clarity about his experiences as a holocaust survivor, as well as about how he applied what he learned to helping his patients.

This book was not a waste of my time, but there are better books available on the subject. I would very much like to read a treatise on modern Stoicism written by a contemporary psychologist or someone who otherwise has the background to deliver both a broader view of human life and a clearer sense of the implications of recent advances in psychology to the practice of Stoicism.

10 people found this helpful

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Thank you, Massimo. Great book!

This book answered many questions i had! A must read for new Stoics. Easy to follow with clear narration.

3 people found this helpful

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Life Chaging

Few book transmit ancient wisdom in a practical way that can be adopted by a modern reader to improve their quality of life. This book succeeds in the goal. I am grateful to the author for so clearly sharing this wisdom. Thank you.

1 person found this helpful

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terrible narrator

the book was alright but the narrators voice seemed to aggravate me, maybe that was the point tho, either way I would not subject myself to another book narrated by that dude!

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Absolutely beautiful sexy and gorgeous novel I’m so I love with knowledge

I may be far off and have a lot of work to do before I get to true Eudaimonia but thanks to this book I have a path.

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Great, First book on audible I finished

This teached me a lot but there is still more to learn, so this was a good book

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Enjoyable and parctical for us Westerners

Peter is fun to listen to, and the subject matter, Stoicim, is made easy to consume and apply right away. I find myself going to this time and time again on long drives.
I've read a few books on Stoicim by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, and Massimo ties them in real well.

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  • Caleb
  • 2018-11-07

Great book needs better narration

This is a great introduction to Stoicism. It is both personal and practical. I'm grateful to Pigliucci for writing it. My only problem is with the narrator. His tone reminds me of a text to speech bot. He adjusts his cadence according to punctuation and sentence structure and not according to how people actually speak. You get the sense that he is not paying attention to what he is reading. As a result it is hard to pay attention to him.

18 people found this helpful

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  • Julian G.
  • 2017-08-07

A great start to the way

The author admits that people who make stoicism a part of their personal philosophies study the writings of ancient and modern Stoics. I left this book wanting to fully explore it, but also needing a little more than I got from this book. Perhaps that was his point. I would like to find writings by non philosophers (some he suggests in the book and pdf notes that come with the audio book) because sometimes things got a little sophist... Again, which may have been his point.

11 people found this helpful

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  • david gordon
  • 2018-03-31

Needs editing. Wordy. Almost like a diary. Too much filler.

The author wraps nice discussion of stoicism with ramblings about this and that and too many personal stories. Almost like a professor trying to publish a long book.

Disappointing after a Guide to The Good Life and reading Epictitus directly.

9 people found this helpful

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  • Lynn McInally
  • 2017-12-27

Go to the original works instead

It was difficult to glean insights into stoicism through the narration. Clearly mismatched for the content.

5 people found this helpful

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  • T-600
  • 2017-10-18

Wonderful!

What a fantastic insight into the authors interpretation of stoicism and practice! Written in a way that is easy to understand and apply to ones life. The narration is very well done and pleasing to listen to.

5 people found this helpful

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  • Darwin8u
  • 2019-08-11

Not our masters, bur our guides

"Men who made these discoveries before us are not our masters, bur our guides. Truth lies open for all; it has not yet been monopolized."
- Seneca quoted in Pigliucci's 'How to Be a Stoic"


For me the book was a bit too superficial on Stoicism and focused too much on the author's personal journey. In some ways, this book reminds me a bit of Robert Wright's Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment -- EXCEPT I think Wright's analysis and wrting were both better.

It makes me sad because I wanted so much to like this book. My personal philosophy of life seems to swing a bit between the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius and the Epicureanism of Lucretius. So, perhaps, I'm a Stoic and work and an Epicurean at home. Or, maybe, I'm a Stoic during the day and an Epicurean at night.

Anyway, perhaps the book missed its target with me because I wanted a deeper dive into Stoicism, but paired with a deeper dive into the conflicts between Stocism and Modernity*. My final major critique is, while I enjoyed the major structure/organization of the book. He divides the book into four sections. The first three are the three disciplines of stoicism: 1. Desire, 2. Action, and 3. Assent. In the final and fourth section of the book, Pigliucci gives us a dozen selected spiritual excercises to get the reader started on their way to "becoming a good student of Stoicism" and as "good a person as [the reader] can be." My problem lies in the awkward path Pigliucci uses. He choses Epicetetus to be his Virgil (ok, I'm game), but then literally pretends to be having conversations mid-narrative with Epicetetus..."it was at this point during our conversation that I realized what Epicetetus was telling me had countless applications in my own life." In theory I get what Pigliucci was trying to do, but it came off awkward and a bit forced and kind of silly. At least I'm positive that the three stars aren't going to cause Pigliucci any pain. He's a Stoic. He's got the tools to survive my three-star=slight.

* One fascinating conflict would be Bill Clinton's well-known love of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. While it is certainly possible that Clinton read(s) Meditations yearly. After eight years as President, Clinton is not the President most would pick to exemplify a modern, stoic philosopher king.

4 people found this helpful

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  • Riley
  • 2018-06-09

Stoic philosophy is so miss understood

This book really helped me understand stoic philosophy and realize how prevailent it is in the world.

3 people found this helpful

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  • Cervantes
  • 2019-10-28

great book- terrible natation

this book is so amazing however its one of the worst narrations I have ever heard.

2 people found this helpful

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  • David campbell
  • 2019-03-19

Fluff Overload!

Every other sentence either contains the word stoicism or stoic for six hours! I couldn't take it anymore.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Jonathan Anderson
  • 2018-12-07

First audiobook and now I'm hooked!

As the title says this is my first audiobook and so my opinions may be a little skewed however I found the book not only incredibly interesting but I believe it was also performed well. I feel as if I have learned a great deal and there are many lessons that I know I will return to at later dates.

2 people found this helpful