On Being a Stoic

February 15, 2025

Being a Stoic in its true sense—rather than the crude distortion of pop culture—is difficult, not because of the practice itself, but because you can never be certain whether you truly are one or merely masquerading as one.

When Seneca was forced by Nero to take his own life and went through all the rites of a Stoic, did he genuinely believe that externals held no value? Or was this simply the only way he knew to face the situation?

You will only ever know when it’s too late—when death comes knocking. But then, there is no one left to know, no one left to judge.