Category: Daily Wisdom

Today’s Teacher: Socrates (470 – 399 BC) The Teaching The unexamined life is not worth living. — Socrates, as recorded in Plato’s Apology, 38a Who Was Socrates? Socrates was born around 470 BC in Athens, the son of a stonemason named Sophroniscus and a midwife named Phaenarete. He would later describe his own philosophical work…

Today’s Teacher: Viktor Frankl (1905 – 1997) The Teaching Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. — Viktor Frankl, attributed from Man’s Search for Meaning Who Was Viktor Frankl? Viktor Emil Frankl was born on…

A collection of hard-earned truths about identity, work, pain, and the long game of becoming hello there, friend. Some things take years to learn. Others land in a single sentence at exactly the right moment — and you feel something shift. This is a collection of 59 of those sentences. They come from different traditions,…

Today’s Teacher: Seneca (c. 4 BC – 65 AD) The Teaching It is not that I am brave, but that I know what is not worth fearing. The present moment always will have been. Omnia, Lucili, aliena sunt, tempus tantum nostrum est.(Everything, Lucilius, belongs to others; time alone is ours.)— Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, Letter I…

And still here you are. Looking back at all the things you’ve been through, here you are and still going. Of all the things you’ve thought you’ve needed, looked for, and found, here you are and what does it all mean? 
What has remained the same all throughout the years? What got strengthened in you?…

Today’s Teacher: Simone de Beauvoir (1908 – 1986) The Teaching One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.— Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1949 Who Was Simone de Beauvoir? Simone de Beauvoir was born on January 9, 1908, in Paris, into a bourgeois Catholic family that had fallen on hard financial times. Her…

Today’s Teacher: Zhuangzi (c. 369 – 286 BC) The Teaching Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Suddenly, I awoke, and lay there, Zhuangzi once more.…

Today’s Teacher: Hypatia of Alexandria (c. 360 – 415 AD) The Teaching Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.— Hypatia of Alexandria, attributed by Socrates Scholasticus Who Was Hypatia? Hypatia of Alexandria was born around 360 AD in the city that was still, in…

Today’s Teacher: Lao Tzu (c. 6th century BC) The Teaching Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching Who Was Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu — whose name means, simply, “Old Master” — is one of the most influential thinkers in human history and one of the most elusive. We…

Today’s Teacher: Seneca (c. 4 BC – 65 AD) The Teaching It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.…

Today’s Teacher: Rumi (1207 – 1273) The Teaching Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. — Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks Who Was Rumi? Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi was born on September 30, 1207, in Wakhsh — a city in what is now Tajikistan — into a…

Today’s Teacher: Simone Weil (1909 – 1943) The Teaching Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.— Simone Weil, First and Last Notebooks Who Was Simone Weil? Simone Weil was born in Paris on February 3, 1909, into a secular Jewish family of considerable intellectual warmth. Her brother, André Weil, became one of the…

Today’s Teacher: Epictetus (c. 50 – 135 AD) The Teaching Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. — Epictetus, Enchiridion, Chapter 1 Who Was Epictetus? Epictetus was born around 50 AD in Hierapolis, a city in what is now western Turkey. He was born a…

March 6, 2026 Today’s Teacher: Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180 AD) The Teaching “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Who Was Marcus Aurelius? Marcus Aurelius was the Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD — and one of the most…

Holding Two Truths at Once Good morning, beautiful soul. Welcome back. I have been sitting with something this week — something that keeps returning to me every time I settle into stillness, every time I roll out my mat, every time I sit with my journal in the early hours before the rest of the…

Today’s Teacher: Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) The Teaching “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” — Søren Kierkegaard, Journalen (Journals) Who Was Søren Kierkegaard? Søren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic—often called the “father of existentialism.” Born in Copenhagen to a wealthy but melancholic family, Kierkegaard…

Today’s Teacher: Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) The Teaching “Learning never exhausts the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance polymath—painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, designed flying machines…

Today’s Teacher: Harriet Tubman (c.1822 – 1913) The Teaching “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” — Harriet Tubman Who Was Harriet Tubman? Harriet Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland around 1822.…

Today’s Teacher: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) The Teaching “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Who Was Ralph Waldo Emerson? Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, poet, and leader of the transcendentalist movement in the…