The Kind of Philosophical Life To Aim For

<p>More than 60 years ago, a young boy in Pittsburgh, PA was curious about philosophy. He went to his high school library and found a book of the writings of Kant. Excited, smart for his age, he started reading…and only made it a few pages before he threw it aside, hopelessly confused.</p><p>It was later that day, when he explained what happened to his father, that the boy’s life was changed forever. Because his father had a brand new copy of the beautiful <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/meditations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Meditations</em></a> by Marcus Aurelius. These pages, this philosophy came a bit more easily to the boy, and were still inspiring him nearly to a point of reverie decades later–infectiously so as countless students of his would attest at the news of the death of Professor Paul G. Woodruff at age 80 earlier this month.</p><p>We were lucky enough <a href="https://dailystoic.com/professor-paul-woodruff-on-philosophy-war-and-justice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to interview Professor Woodruff</a> on <a href="https://dailystoic.com/podcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Daily Stoic Podcast</a> back in January, and he told us one of his favorite lessons from <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/meditations" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Meditations</em></a>.</p><p>✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email:&nbsp;<a href="http://dailystoic.com/dailyemail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail</a></p><p>🏛 Check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daily Stoic Store</a>&nbsp;for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.</p><p>📱 Follow us:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener no