Stoicism and the Art of Happiness

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• FabHK · Feb 25, 2017 · Recommends

  …philosophy, very clearly written. Great for first exposure. It (sensibly) skips some of the more arcane stuff, such as Stoic metaphysics (historically relevant, but really obsolete). 2. Donald Robertson, "Stoicism and the Art of Happiness", https://www.amazon.com/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourself... This is a touch more academic and historic on one hand, and very practical and text-book-like on the other hand, in that it has self-assessments,…

  on “How to Be a Stoic” ↗
• FrojoS · Dec 16, 2017 · Recommends

  I do not agree with your first sentences. You can work hard without being insane. In fact you can decide to work very hard based on reason. 'Teach Yourself Stoicism and the Art of Happiness' by Donald J. Robertson is a great introduction. > You have to have faith that your grit will achieve those goals and pray to the gods of achievement everyday Having faith, that your grit will achieve…

  on “Grit is a muscle, train it” ↗
• pps · Nov 19, 2016 · Recommends

  https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/stoicism-101/ https://philosophy-of-cbt.com/2012/10/18/the-system-of-stoic... And "Stoicism and the Art of Happiness" by Donald Robertson is great book.

  on “Stoicism: Indifference is a power” ↗
• pps · Mar 27, 2022 · Recommends

  Sertraline (prescribed by psychiatrist) + Stoicism (Stoicism and the Art of Happiness by Donald Robertson is a good intro, if you're interested)

  on “Ask HN: If you used to be socially awkward and shy, how did you improve?” ↗
• rkallos · Sep 9, 2022 · Recommends

  …ignores hundreds of years worth of philosophers who also contributed to Stoicism. For those interested in a more broad treatment of Stoicism, a wonderful follow-up to Meditations is Donald J. Robertson's Stoicism and the Art of Happiness

  on “Stoicism is not enough” ↗
• 0xmattf · Feb 9, 2026 · Recommends

  Honestly, most modern books on Stoicism read like that; I tend to avoid them altogether. Although I will say that Donald Robertson has done a great job with the two books I've read of his (Stoicism and the Art of Happiness, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor). The best modern book, in my opinion, is Pierre Hadot's The Inner Citadel. It's primarily about Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, but does a really good deep-dive into…

  on “What Is Stoicism?” ↗
• stryan · Aug 16, 2016 · Recommends

  …background of a lot of Stoic teachings and practices. It's best to take Irvine's book as a guide to his own modern philosophy heavily based off Stoicism. Take that as you will, but I would recommend Stoicism and the Art of Happiness and some of the original Stoic classics; Enchiridion by Epictetus (it's short and very direct) and Seneca the Youngers Letters.

  on “The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes It Hard to Be Happy (2010)” ↗
• slazaro · Oct 29, 2018 · Recommends

  …the grain and recommend reading a modern book that's more guided and more of an overview, before reading the classics (which are great and very approachable!). A Guide to the Good Life, for instance, or Stoicism and the Art of Happiness.

  on “Focus on your own shit (2016)” ↗
• tejinderss · Feb 5, 2019 · Recommends

  If you are interested in stoicism, 'stoicism and the art of happiness' is a good book

  on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗
• snowcrshd · Jul 14, 2017 · Mentions

  I second this. "A Guide to the Good Life" is a fantastic introduction to Stoic principles. I also read "Stoicism and the Art of Happiness", but did not enjoy it as much. I think Irvine's book is more to the point. I've found that stoic practices help me in things I would not have thought of: job interviews, for example. Doing negative…

  on “An introduction to Stoic philosophy and resilience-building [video]” ↗