# 🏛️ Cheatsheet: Stoic Philosophy for Modern Life

By Better Wise

> This cheatsheet is premium content. Sign in and purchase the course to view the full content.

One-page reference for the whole course. Sorted by module and lesson. Use it to look things up, not to learn them the first time.

---

## 1.1 Stoicism in Ten Minutes

**What it is**

| Claim | Reality |
| --- | --- |
| A philosophy of feeling nothing | A philosophy of not being ruled by feelings |
| A set of rules to obey | A set of practices to rehearse |
| Escapism or passivity | Active engagement with what you can influence |
| "Just be positive" | Realistic appraisal, then a chosen response |
| A religion | A practical philosophy of character |

**What it is not**: suppressing emotion, avoiding problems, pretending nothing matters, or a productivity hack.

**Three anchors of the school**

| Anchor | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Control | Only your judgments and choices are truly yours |
| Character | Virtue is the only genuine good |
| Rehearsal | Prepare and review daily, not once |

**The three authors**

| Author | Role in the course | Signature idea |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Epictetus | Teacher, former slave | Dichotomy of control, "it is not things but judgments" |
| Marcus Aurelius | Emperor writing private notes | Morning preparation, view from above, duty to the whole |
| Seneca | Statesman and letter-writer | Evening review, negative visualization, time as our scarcest resource |

> **Note:** 
> Stoicism is a *practice*, like physical training. Reading about it changes nothing; doing the exercises changes the habit.

---

## 1.2 The Dichotomy of Control

**The core split (Epictetus)**

| In my control | Not in my control |
| --- | --- |
| My judgments | Other people's opinions |
| My intentions and choices | Outcomes and results |
| My effort and attention | Reputation, weather, traffic |
| My response to events | The events themselves |
| My character | My body's health, aging, death |
| What I say and how I say it | How it is received |

**The sorting exercise (2 minutes)**