The Stoic Manual

The Stoic Manual

Create Meaning

Don’t waste the pain you reckon you must go through.

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Stoic Philosophy
Oct 27, 2025
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Bowl with Peonies and Roses - Vincent van Gogh - 1886; Paris, France
Bowl with Peonies and Roses, (1886; Paris, France) by Vincent van Gogh

“He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how’.”―Friedrich Nietzsche

You dream of ease- of things finally aligning, of your plans unfolding nicely- and then reality hits. A project hits a dead end. A friend disappoints you. The car breaks down. The promotion goes to someone else. You sit there wondering how something so promising turned so sour. Everyone tells you “things happen for a reason.” But what they don’t tell you is that most of the time this reason won’t magically reveal itself from a hat. It’s not waiting for you on the other side of pain- hell, you might even get more suffering at the end of the tunnel. You have to…


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