Memento mori practice for beginners: a calm, secular starter routine
A simple, non-morbid memento mori practice for beginners: a morning line, a two-minute evening review, a physical cue and the 'last time' exercise, drawn from the Stoics.
Topic
Philosophy
Old wisdom for ordinary days.
Stoic, Buddhist and modern ideas about what matters, tested against daily life. Philosophy as a practice, not a lecture.
About this topic
This section treats philosophy as a set of tools for ordinary days rather than a subject for exams. We focus mostly on the Stoics, who wrote practical advice about anger, loss, fear and what is worth caring about, and we bring in other traditions and modern research where they help.
Quotations are checked against published translations and attributed to the specific work, because the internet is full of lines the ancient writers never wrote. Each article ends with a small exercise, so an idea becomes something you can try today rather than something you merely agree with.
Where to start: Stoicism for everyday life is the map for this section. The dichotomy of control explains its central idea in depth, and the regrets of the dying asks what we will wish we had done differently.
All philosophy articles
5 articlesStoic exercises for anger: 8 practices from Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus
Stoic exercises for anger, taken straight from Seneca's On Anger, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius: step-by-step practices, when to use each, and everyday examples.
Stoicism for everyday life: 7 practices that still work
A plain-English guide to Stoicism: what Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius actually taught, seven practices you can use today, and what the evidence says.
The dichotomy of control: stop worrying about what you can't change
Epictetus's oldest piece of advice, explained: how to sort what is up to you from what is not, why it eases worry, and what modern research adds.
What people regret at the end of life, and what it means for now
Bronnie Ware's five regrets of the dying are a nurse's memories, not a study. Here is what they say, what regret research adds, and how to use both today.
Other topics