I am a huge fan of Sun Tzu's work titled "The Art of War". This is not a treatise on Stoicism, but it contains many life truths and wisdom also proclaimed by Stoics. In fact, it was the first "philosophical" work I ever read, and it ultimately pushed me towards stoicism. Have you read this book and do you have any thoughts about it? Maybe you know other non-Stoic works that in some way inspired you to follow the path of stoicism? Please share your own experiences.

I would like to make my first contribution to this community by sharing something rather obvious, but very rarely experienced nowadays. To some of you, the title might give away the source of my borrowed nugget of wisdom – surely, it remains one of the most poignant life lessons I have been striving to live day in and day out. I am fortunate that such a message resonated immediately the minute I heard Ted say it out loud. It was quite a revelation in a way, since I thought this discourse was expressed in less popular content rather than TV sitcom fare. Nevertheless, there it was: in my humble opinion, the single most gentle advice ever given, kindly asking to be empathic and show respect towards others. The Stoic philosophy would have us argue that we are better served by considering our opinions and accepting they are there. It's advised to refrain from judging others but instead be curious, empathic, and emotionally present when presented with any difficult situations. Feel free to share and give your input.

My name is Gabe Schurman and I started my stoicism journey in 2007. Tim Ferriss spoke about stoicism and I was hooked since. I struggled in the beginning of my journey due to how heavy the material. I also found it very difficult to digest the information the way it is intended. After roughly 10 Years I started a FB Group in efforts of finding other like minded individuals. Even though the Group has now passed 400,000 members - it is not what I intended. While I highly recommend the group for numerous different amazing reasons - it is not about peer-to-peer growth. I couldn't be more excited to be here with you all learning and practicing Stoicism.