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Toss A Cogito To Your Witcher: Stoicism And Geralt Of Rivia’s Philosophy Of Life

Popular culture is filled with characters who live and breathe philosophy through their actions. It’s through this lens I find philosophy easier to interpret and become more thoughtful about how to apply certain lessons in my own life.

When it comes to a philosophy like Stoicism, a character that displays Stoic aspects is Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series.

I’ll caveat this article by saying I don’t believe Geralt to be a pure Stoic. What is worth noting is that he does embody certain traits that gel with the philosophy.

So, let’s take a deeper look into The White Wolf’s philosophy of life and how it can help to make Stoicism easier to understand.

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How To Live: A Life Of Montaigne Review: Modern Day Essays, Timeless Wisdom

Philosophers come in all shapes and sizes. Some prefer to ask questions, others prefer to dive into metaphysics and explore the origins of the universe. Michel de Montaigne was a patchwork quilt of worldviews, weaving together his own unique perspective that turned him into one of the most celebrated thinkers in history.

Sarah Bakewell’s How To Live: A Life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer is a remarkable book recounting Montaigne’s philosophy, his life and how it can be applied to the modern day.

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A Stoic And An Epicurean Walk Into A Bar

A Stoic and an Epicurean
Walk into a bar
And discuss the path to the good life
One talks about natural pleasure
The other about natural duty
And leave with more questions than answers

The View From Above

The View From Above is a Stoic technique that can help to clear away the noise of the day and take an objective, bigger picture viewpoint of the world. Marcus Aurelius was fond of using this technique and wrote about it often:

“Think of substance in its entirety, of which you have the smallest of shares; and of time in its entirety, of which a brief and momentary span has been assigned to you; and of the works of destiny, and how very small is your part in them.”

So, The View From Above is about shifting from a first person view to a third person view. Imagine looking at yourself as if you were in the sky and it could seem as if the events that you’re currently experiencing aren’t nearly as bad or important as they seem in the moment.

With that in mind, here’s a photography collection that is inspired by this Stoic practice.

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