Stoicism is a western philosophy that can help you worry less. It will help you be a better student by teaching you to be calm when challenges arise.
Are you the type of student that lets emotions clog up your thinking? Do you dwell too much on the past and worry too much about the future? Are you often stressed?
Well, stoicism can help alleviate these concerns. By learning and practising this philosophy, you’ll be able to focus on the present and the task at hand.
Stoicism is a western philosophy that was developed (and practiced) in ancient Greece and Rome. Its core doctrine is to use logic to fight against the fear of pain and to accept the present moment as it is.
Be a Better Student with Stoicism
Having this ideology will help you be a better student because it will prevent you from pondering about the “what ifs.”
It will allow you to be brave and confident in your ability to solve problems (any problem; not just equations and such).
Stoicism will encourage you to be analytical and critical so that you can discover the roots of your problems and fix them at that level.
So, here are 11 quotes from the Stoics that will help you be a better student:
Lessons from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations:
“Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.”
“If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.”
“Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. The twining strands of fate wove both of them together.”
Lessons from Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic:
“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.”
“Floods will rob us of one thing, fire of another. These are conditions of our existence which we cannot change. What we can do is adopt a noble spirit, such a spirit as befits a good person, so that we may bear up bravely under all that fortune sends us and bring our wills into tune with nature’s.”
“How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?”
“Life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future.”
Lessons from Epictetus’ Enchiridion and Discourses:
“We should always be asking ourselves: ‘Is this something that is, or is not, in my control?’”
“Take a lyre player: he’s relaxed when he performs alone, but put him in front of an audience, and it’s a different story, no matter how beautiful his voice or how well he plays the instrument. Why? Because he not only wants to perform well, he wants to be well received — and the latter lies outside his control.”
“Don’t seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will—then your life will flow well.”
“It’s something like going on an ocean voyage. What can I do? Pick the captain, the boat, the date, and the best time to sail. But then a storm hits… What are my options? I do the only thing I am in a position to do, drown — but fearlessly, without bawling or crying out to God, because I know that what is born must also die.”
Conclusion
One thing I noticed going over these quotes is that perception is important to Stoicism.
Your perception (or how you view issues) of the situation will determine how you react to it.
If you have a negative view, your reaction will be negative. You will go down a rabbit hole of all the “bad things” that did happen and will happen.
But if you shift your view and try to find a positive angle to the situation, you will react positively.
You will see the good in the problem and face it differently.
You will (maybe) now try to solve the problem to prevent it from happening in the future rather than drowning in all the (potential) negative things that can happen to you.
And this is what studying and practicing stoicism can do.
So, give it a try and see how it affects your life as a student (and beyond).
P.S. If you want to know how stoicism can help you do better on exams, read this article I wrote on the topic.