The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness is a self help guidebook penned by author Jonas Salzgeber. Redefining the bedrock philosophy of the past to embrace calmness in the modern day, this guidebook offers part philosophy class and part practical workbook in the quest for its readers to become modern Stoic thinkers. Author Jonas Salzgeber updates the popular philosophy of four key Stoic thinkers - Seneca the Younger, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius – and enables his readers to understand their viewpoints for the modern day in as succinct a way as possible. From here, he develops the key areas of Stoic thinking, and later offers exercises to practice the ideas which have been taught in your daily life.

People seeking peace in a chaotic world could benefit a lot in heeding the philosophy of an equally complex ancient time. Author Jonas Salzgeber curates some excellent thoughts and expands upon them with clear prose and uncomplicated concepts and examples, which should make The Little Book of Stoicism an easy and approachable read for all. The content is divided into short sections which effectively organize the philosophy into one point at a time, and the overall message of calm, resilient mindfulness is one which fits well with the modern thinking of the current age. What I particularly enjoyed was Part Two containing the practical exercises, a few of which I tried myself. This is the treasure chest at the end of the learning journey, a practical and mindful way to focus on self improvement.

The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness by Jonas Salzgeber is a great non-fiction book on philosophy. In this book, Jonas makes an attempt to consolidate the teachings of the Greek school of Stoic philosophy and present them in today’s setting where they can be just as relevant as they were in ancient Greece over 2000 years ago. The book is divided into several sections and chapters and starts with an introduction to Stoicism and an overview of its most important theories as well as some historical background. This includes a few short biographies on some of the Stoics including Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher Roman emperor. After that, the book moves from the theory of the philosophy towards its practical aspects and presents 55 short chapters on how to practice Stoicism in real life: insights from the ancient philosophers regarding practical advice for day-to-day living, as well as its application in today’s modern world we live in. There is also a bibliography at the end of the book which presents more reading resources.

I really liked reading The Little Book of Stoicism for its simplicity and its genuine attempt to demystify this philosophy and present it in a contemporary setting. Although I had read about the Stoics before, I found out a few new things by reading this book. The language and writing style are simple and pleasing and I am sure will be relatable to most young people of today’s age. I actually wish that more short biographies of some other Stoic philosophers from the past had been included as well since I feel it is not only educational but also intriguing to learn more about the roots of this philosophy. Overall, for anyone interested in philosophy or simply looking for ways for self-improvement, this book will surely be very helpful.