What is the one unconventional piece of Stoic advice that has significantly improved your life?
Last Updated: 30.06.2025 08:53
I read 30+ books and 1000+ quotes on stoicism and the philosophies of pioneer Stoic philosophers. And the most unconventional quote by a stoic is this:
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You have made yourself hostile by not doing something wrong. You have enslaved yourself by aligning your happiness with your actions and results.
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It drives you to a dark abyss where you comprehend its meaning through your own experiences and then come back to the light on your own.
What is that quote?
I came back from the dead after reading this SENECA quote.
You may sometimes give up on your dreams because that is just not meant to happen.
Well, drawback and laugh because that is not the truth. The truth is that not everything will go your way and you don't have to worry about it.
During my study of stoicism which is a philosophy of action, romanticizing suffering and virtuous wisdom. Wisdom which truly helps us to live with conviction and action without giving much importance to our suffering.
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Life exists in moments and you should live every moment. This chain of moments is the very nature of life which is complete and whole not broken and incomplete.
But first, how to judge a revolutionary, unconventional and life-changing quote:
We align our happiness and satisfaction with our actions and their results. We feel proud of ourselves for putting in effort to be happy every day, each day.
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And most important of all, the more we live this quote by applying it to practical life through our experiences, the more we understand its depth and how helpful it is.
Step back. Draw back. Stop right there and free yourself of this burden.
It makes us realize that it’s not always what we expect but still, we have to keep going without needing any external force or motivation because our inner voice tells us that neither this is our point to stop or get disappointed nor anything should be our stop.
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And those dreams can not come true without our actions, efforts and consistency. We are afraid of making a mistake and we curse ourselves if do any.
I have been studying the philosophy of stoicism for a long time and the most unconventional thing I have come across so far is a life-changing and revolutionary quote from SENECA.
We pursue our dreams because we want to become more fulfilled and happy. We want to become happy because we think that after doing so much toil we deserve to be happy.
Just get up and get something done because no matter what, you should not stop your virtuous actions which are a conviction of a well-lived life.
But instead of commending, feeling proud and happy, SENECA suggests that we should laugh.
“We often believe that we are so significant that everything has to go our way and according to our thinking. What SENECA suggests is “Draw back further and laugh”.
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Why?
You not only read such a quote but live it. You never forget it. It becomes part of your everyday life.
It challenges your existing beliefs and outlook on life.
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SENECA says: “Laugh on yourself”.
We have to keep moving while laughing at ourselves because we are not that much significant.
It completely changes you from head to toe.
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LOVE.
It was so straight to the point and harsh that it seemed a completely new perspective but it was actually the greatest unconventional advice I ever listened to.
Yes, we consider ourselves significant. We get up every day and go out there to make the most out of life. We consider ourselves important because we act.
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This quote completely changes our perspective, it challenges our existing beliefs that you will always get what you strive for, it completely makes us hopeless by pinpointing the straight truth but slowly makes us someone who may not need help in difficult times.
It may look simple to you but let’s break it down.
Because that’s not happiness and you will not always achieve results. You will not always get something out of your efforts.
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We act to derive results. We want results to be driven because we want to become better in every portion of life. We want to become better because we have dreams.
It makes you more satisfied and fulfilled.
It gives meaning to your actions. Don’t underestimate this one. Giving meaning means it drives you so crazy that you keep on doing your actions without focusing on results, failures and even success.
The complete quote goes like this:
It was such an unconventional and strange advice that I kept thinking about it for days. It completely shredded the skin of my thinking and gave rebirth to my thoughts.
After years of practicing this strange piece of advice, I gradually realized that this quote was not unconventional and strange at all but at its core, it was the truest wisdom of stoics.
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During my theology study, I read hundreds of books from ancient to modern religions and their philosophies and outlook on life.
You regret doing this and doing that. You don't feel gratitude toward life and you see the very nature of life as crushing instead of fulfilling and satisfactory.
But you feel all of this because you consider yourself a significant being. You think of yourself as someone who did all and still got nothing.
It completely changes your perspective about yourself and frees you from a huge burden you are carrying on your shoulders every day without any reason.
what do you do in this situation? You curse yourself. You feel down and broke. You crush yourself with the burden of doing something wrong.
And the quote of SENECA checks all the boxes and leaves us in astonishment.
My outlook on the very nature of life and myself completely changed and everything seemed to change a lot.
You will not always get what you want. Sometimes, things get out of our control. You may not get your desired thing even by giving in all the world you have.
It shakes you to the core but makes you more stable afterward.
You only observe a broken part but don't understand its significance in the long chain of life.