WEBVTT

00:00:08.207 --> 00:00:11.126
You've been stranded thousands
of miles from home

00:00:11.126 --> 00:00:14.097
with no money or possessions.

00:00:14.097 --> 00:00:19.526
Such a predicament would make many
people despair and curse their awful fate.

00:00:19.526 --> 00:00:26.506
But for Zeno of Cyprus, it became the
foundation of his life's work and legacy.

00:00:26.506 --> 00:00:31.411
The once wealthy merchant lost everything
when he was shipwrecked in Athens

00:00:31.411 --> 00:00:34.386
around 300 BCE.

00:00:34.386 --> 00:00:37.631
With not much else to do,
he wandered into a book shop,

00:00:37.631 --> 00:00:40.526
became intrigued by reading about Socrates,

00:00:40.526 --> 00:00:46.667
and proceeded to seek out and study
with the city's noted philosophers.

00:00:46.667 --> 00:00:49.396
As Zeno began educating his own students,

00:00:49.396 --> 00:00:53.359
he originated the philosophy
known as Stoicism,

00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.862
whose teachings of virtue, tolerance,
and self-control

00:00:56.862 --> 00:01:01.649
have inspired generations of thinkers
and leaders.

00:01:01.649 --> 00:01:05.337
The name Stoicism comes 
from the Stoa Poikile,

00:01:05.337 --> 00:01:07.296
the decorated public colonnade

00:01:07.296 --> 00:01:11.358
where Zeno and his disciples gathered
for discussion.

00:01:11.358 --> 00:01:14.606
Today, we colloquially 
use the word stoic

00:01:14.606 --> 00:01:18.068
to mean someone who 
remains calm under pressure

00:01:18.068 --> 00:01:21.127
and avoids emotional extremes.

00:01:21.127 --> 00:01:24.717
But while this captures important
aspects of Stoicism,

00:01:24.717 --> 00:01:29.057
the original philosophy was more
than just an attitude.

00:01:29.057 --> 00:01:31.348
The Stoics believed that 
everything around us

00:01:31.348 --> 00:01:34.758
operates according 
to a web of cause and effect,

00:01:34.758 --> 00:01:37.902
resulting in a rational structure
of the universe,

00:01:37.902 --> 00:01:40.768
which they called logos.

00:01:40.768 --> 00:01:44.989
And while we main not always
have control over the events affecting us,

00:01:44.989 --> 00:01:49.799
we can have control over 
how we approach things.

00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:52.297
Rather than imagining an ideal society,

00:01:52.297 --> 00:01:55.828
the Stoic tries to deal 
with the world as it is

00:01:55.828 --> 00:02:00.479
while pursuing self-improvement
through four cardinal virtues:

00:02:00.479 --> 00:02:01.829
practical wisdom,

00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:08.220
the ability to navigate complex situations
in a logical, informed, and calm manner;

00:02:08.220 --> 00:02:09.250
temperance,

00:02:09.250 --> 00:02:14.449
the exercise of self-restraint 
and moderation in all aspects of life;

00:02:14.449 --> 00:02:15.870
justice,

00:02:15.870 --> 00:02:20.129
treating others with fairness even
when they have done wrong;

00:02:20.129 --> 00:02:21.580
and courage,

00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:24.210
not just in extraordinary circumstances,

00:02:24.210 --> 00:02:28.820
but facing daily challenges
with clarity and integrity.

00:02:28.820 --> 00:02:32.180
As Seneca, one of the `most famous
Roman Stoics wrote,

00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:36.460
"Sometimes, even to live 
is an act of courage."

00:02:36.460 --> 00:02:40.281
But while Stoicism focuses on 
personal improvement,

00:02:40.281 --> 00:02:42.971
it's not a self-centered philosophy.

00:02:42.971 --> 00:02:47.221
At a time when Roman laws considered
slaves as property,

00:02:47.221 --> 00:02:49.871
Seneca called for their humane treatment

00:02:49.871 --> 00:02:54.542
and stressed that we all share
the same fundamental humanity.

00:02:54.542 --> 00:02:57.511
Nor does Stoicism encourage passivity.

00:02:57.511 --> 00:03:00.742
The idea is that only people 
who have cultivated

00:03:00.742 --> 00:03:07.012
virtue and self-control in themselves
can bring positive change in others.

00:03:07.012 --> 00:03:12.141
One of the most famous Stoic writers
was also one of Rome's greatest emperors.

00:03:12.141 --> 00:03:14.862
Over the course of his 19-year reign,

00:03:14.862 --> 00:03:21.413
Stoicism gave Marcus Aurelius the resolve
to lead the Empire through two major wars,

00:03:21.413 --> 00:03:25.532
while dealing with the loss of many
of his children.

00:03:25.532 --> 00:03:30.143
Centuries later, Marcus's journals would
guide and comfort Nelson Mandela

00:03:30.143 --> 00:03:32.923
through his 27-year imprisonment

00:03:32.923 --> 00:03:37.173
during his struggle 
for racial equality in South Africa.

00:03:37.173 --> 00:03:42.664
After his release and eventual victory,
Mandela stressed peace and reconciliation,

00:03:42.664 --> 00:03:46.152
believing that while the injustices
of the past couldn't be changed,

00:03:46.152 --> 00:03:49.234
his people could confront them
in the present

00:03:49.234 --> 00:03:52.803
and seek to build a better,
more just future.

00:03:52.803 --> 00:03:56.813
Stoicism was an active school 
of philosophy for several centuries

00:03:56.813 --> 00:03:58.593
in Greece and Rome.

00:03:58.593 --> 00:04:01.202
As a formal institution, it faded away,

00:04:01.202 --> 00:04:05.095
but its influence has continued
to this day.

00:04:05.095 --> 00:04:08.184
Christian theologians, 
such as Thomas Aquinas,

00:04:08.184 --> 00:04:12.211
have admired and adopted its focus
on the virtues,

00:04:12.211 --> 00:04:17.264
and there are parallels between
Stoic Ataraxia, or tranquility of mind,

00:04:17.264 --> 00:04:21.486
and the Buddhist concept of Nirvana.

00:04:21.486 --> 00:04:25.658
One particularly influential Stoic
was the philosopher Epictetus

00:04:25.658 --> 00:04:27.489
who wrote that suffering stems

00:04:27.489 --> 00:04:32.338
not from the events in our lives,
but from our judgements about them.

00:04:32.338 --> 00:04:35.300
This has resonated strongly
with modern psychology

00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:37.819
and the self-help movement.

00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:41.013
For example, rational emotive
behavioral therapy

00:04:41.013 --> 00:04:44.115
focuses on changing 
the self-defeating attitudes

00:04:44.115 --> 00:04:48.816
people form about 
their life circumstances.

00:04:48.816 --> 00:04:53.102
There's also Viktor Frankl's logotherapy.

00:04:53.102 --> 00:04:57.137
Informed by Frankl's own time
as a concentration camp prisoner,

00:04:57.137 --> 00:04:59.895
logotherapy is based on 
the Stoic principle

00:04:59.895 --> 00:05:04.159
that we can harness our will power
to fill our lives with meaning,

00:05:04.159 --> 00:05:06.775
even in the bleakest situations.