The Optimize Virtue Compass Ready to make your own?

Try 14 Days Free

Ward Farnsworth

Ward Farnsworth

Dean and John Jeffers Research Chair at the University of Texas School of Law.

Ward Farnsworth is Dean of the University of Texas School of Law. His prior books include the highly regarded Farnsworth’s Classical English Metaphor and Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric, both published by Godine.

PhilosophersNotes on Ward Farnsworth's Books All PhilosophersNotes

The Practicing Stoic

A Philosophical User's Manual

by Ward Farnsworth

Ward Farnsworth is the Dean of the University of Texas School of Law. As you can imagine, he brings a logical precision to his discussion of Stoicism that is distinct and powerful. (Seriously. It’s actually ASTONISHINGLY powerful.) I really enjoyed the book and I highly recommend it for the aspiring Practicing Stoic. Big Ideas we explore include Principle #1 of practical Stoicism (Judgment!), the good life vs. the good mood (virtue for the win!), what others think (<- pro tip: ignore it), preferred indifference (committed but not attached), and using adversity as fuel for our Optimizing (use Hermes' magic wand!).

Pack:

Stoicism

+1s Inspired by Ward Farnsworth All +1s

Alchemizing Adversity
#1130

Get instant access to all +1's!

Join nearly 10,000 members in the
1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge
and start optimizing your life today.

Join Now

Into Exceptional Opportunities for Growth

In our last +1, we all get issued our magic wand. It can alchemize any and all challenges into fuel for our growth. Thank you, Hermes and Epictetus!! I mentioned the fact that Ward Farnsworth shared that passage in his great book The Practicing Stoic. He shared it in a chapter on how Stoics deal with adv...

+1 inspired by Note: The Practicing Stoic

Packs:

Antifragility & Stoicism

antifragility equanimity Growth omms stoicism Wisdom Work

The Good Life
#1126

Get instant access to all +1's!

Join nearly 10,000 members in the
1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge
and start optimizing your life today.

Join Now

vs. The Good Mood

Not too long ago, we had fun revisiting some Stoic wisdom as we mined some goodness with a range of books—including Musonius Rufus’s Lectures and Sayings, Donald Robertson’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor and William B. Irvine’s The Stoic Challenge. I can’t seem to get enough...

+1 inspired by Note: The Practicing Stoic

Packs:

Modern Hērō & Stoicism

big-picture Eudaimonia modern-hero process soul Spirit stoicism Virtue

Your Secret Weapon
#1129

Get instant access to all +1's!

Join nearly 10,000 members in the
1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge
and start optimizing your life today.

Join Now

Thank You, Epictetus and Hermes

In our last +1, we had some fun making our Optimize virtue compass. Recall the four cardinal points correspond with our four cardinal virtues. At the top, pointing North, we have Wisdom. At the bottom, pointing South, we have Self-Mastery. At the left, pointing West, we have Courage. At the right, pointi...

+1 inspired by Note: The Practicing Stoic

Packs:

Antifragility & Stoicism

antifragility equanimity Grit omms stoicism Wisdom Work

Memento Aristotle’s River Creatures
#1142

Get instant access to all +1's!

Join nearly 10,000 members in the
1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge
and start optimizing your life today.

Join Now

Getting Perspective on Life and Death

Today we’re going to revisit Ward Farnsworth’s great book The Practicing Stoic. Chapter 4. It’s on “Death.” We’ll turn to page 49 to be precise. With the logical precision of the Dean of a Law School, Farnsworth presents the Stoic’s perspective on how to think ab...

+1 inspired by Note: The Practicing Stoic

Packs:

Positive Psychology & Stoicism

Gratitude memento-mori positive-psychology stoicism Wisdom Work

Cosmic Math
#1146

Get instant access to all +1's!

Join nearly 10,000 members in the
1,000-Day Epic Optimizing Challenge
and start optimizing your life today.

Join Now

28 Days vs. 28,000 Days vs. 6,825,500,000,000 Days

Not too long ago, we hung out with Aristotle’s Little River Creatures to get some perspective on the brevity of life. Recall: “Aristotle says that there are little animals by the river Hypanis that live only a day. The one that dies at eight o’clock in the morning dies in its youth; the one...

+1 inspired by Note: The Practicing Stoic

Packs:

Positive Psychology & Stoicism

Gratitude memento-mori positive-psychology stoicism Wisdom Work