Books like How to Be Free by Epictetus

A series of spiritual exercises for leading a meaningful life, 2,000 years old and still relevant today.

A Dominican girl’s coming‑of‑age story set against the 1960 Trujillo dictatorship, as she faces family exile, secret police terror, and the fear‑some disappearance of her uncle.

Lives of the Stoics explores the lives of ancient Stoic philosophers, from epigraphic slaves to emperors, showing how their embrace of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom can guide modern success and self‑mastery.

Epictetus’ Discourses offer a practical guide to Stoic ethics, teaching that true happiness comes from distinguishing what we can control, accepting what we cannot, and living in harmony with reason and nature.

This book offers a general introduction to Stoicism, the first for over 30 years (since Sandbach's The Stoics from 1975, or Long's Hellenistic Philosophy from 1974). It outlines the central philosophical ideas of Stoicism and introduces the reader to the different ancient authors and sources that they will encounter when exploring Stoicism. The range of sources that are drawn upon in the reconstruction of Stoic philosophy can be bewildering for the beginner. The book guides the reader through the surviving works of the late Stoic authors, such as Seneca and Epictetus, and the fragments relating to the early Stoics found in authors such as Plutarch and Stobaeus. The opening chapter offers an introduction to the ancient Stoics, their works, and other ancient authors who report material about ancient Stoic philosophy. The second chapter considers how the Stoics themselves conceived philosophy and how they structured their own philosophical system. Chapters Three to Five offer accounts of Stoic philosophical doctrines arranged according to the Stoic division of philosophical discourse into three parts: logic, physics, and ethics. The final chapter considers the later impact of Stoicism on Western philosophy, from late antiquity to the present.

John Sellars examines ancient Stoic and Socratic concepts of philosophy as an art of living, exploring how this idea shapes personal conduct and remains relevant today.