Letters from a Stoic

LETTER II

On Reading & Focus

• Invest time in authors of undeniable talent; their works provide enduring mental sustenance.
• Constant travel creates many acquaintances but few genuine bonds.
• Skipping between writers without deep engagement yields shallow understanding.

Daily Practice

“Each day, too, acquire something which will help you to face poverty, or death, and other ills as well.”

• Reflect on multiple ideas, then thoroughly contemplate one each day.

On Poverty

“A cheerful poverty is an honourable state.” - Epicurus

• True poverty lies not in lacking abundance, but in perpetually desiring more.

LETTER III

Friendship

“If you are looking on anyone as a friend when you do not trust him as you trust yourself, you are making a grave mistake.”

• Deliberate carefully before admitting someone to your circle, then embrace them completely and speak candidly.

LETTER V

Against Performative Living

• Avoid behaviors designed to provoke comment about appearance or lifestyle choices.
• Don’t adopt extreme aesthetics—shabby clothes, unkempt grooming, or deliberate austerity—as self-promotion.

Balance

• Maintain inner authenticity while conforming outwardly to social norms.
• Seek moderation: neither ostentatious displays nor performative simplicity.

Related Concept: The author connects this to spiritual materialism—displaying false superiority through apparent asceticism.