Stoicism is an enduring and ancient philosophy that can help you with everything from love and politics to money and spirituality. The Stoics were celebrated by the Romans, they influenced Christianity and even Shakespeare admired them. Today, both therapists and politicians will profess adherence to the Stoic creed. The “serenity prayer” is a Stoic statement. The Beatles’ “Let it Be” is a Stoic song. Tom Hodgkinson, author of bestselling How to Be Idle, goes back to the original philosophical texts and looks at the greatest Stoics in history – including Seneca, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius and St Augustine – to see if they can help us find fulfilment. He discovers that Stoicism is much stranger and more radical than you’d think.
