Reddit reviews Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters

when you feel up to it [I'd suggest giving this book a read] (http://www.amazon.com/Stoic-Philosophy-Seneca-Essays-Letters/dp/0393004597/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408396798&sr=8-1&keywords=the+stoic+philosophy+of+seneca).

It's over 2,000 years old and deals a lot with coping and dealing with the harshness that can be life.

Personal research, mostly. I'm a big history nerd with a slant toward religion and other macabre subject matter. I'm actually not as well read as I'd like to be on these subjects, and I basically blend different sources into a knowledge smoothie and pour it out onto a page and see what works for me and what doesn't.

I'll list a few books I've read that I enjoyed. There are certainly more here and there, but these are the "big ones" I was citing when writing all the comments in this thread. I typically know more about Christianity than the other major faiths because of the culture around me.

Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years - Diarmaid MacCulloch

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - Karen Armstrong

The next two balance each other out quite well. Hardline anti-theism contrasted with "You know, maybe we can make this work".

The Case for God - Karen Armstrong

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins



Lately, I have been reading the Stoics, which like Buddhism, I find to be one of the more personally palatable philosophies of mind I have come across, although I find rational contemplation a bit more accessible to my Westernized nature.

Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters - Translated by Moses Hadas

Discourses and Selected Writings (of Epictetus) - Translated by Robert Dobbin

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius - Translated by George Long

I'm still waiting on Fed Ex to deliver this one:

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy - William B. Irvine

Also, if you're into history in general, a nice primer for what sorts of things to dive into when poking around history is this fun series on YouTube. I usually watch a video then spend a while reading more in depth about whatever subject is covered that week in order to fill the gaps. Plus, John and Hank are super awesome. The writing is superb and I think, most importantly, he presents an overall argument for why studying history is so important because of its relevance to current events.

Crash Course: World History - John Green

Letters From A Stoic only contains some of Seneca's moral letters to Lucilius. The other titles you mentioned are longer essays, which can be found online or in other books such as Dialogues and Essays or Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters.

My freshman year (of college) we used the Hadas translation of Seneca's essays and letters in class.