Ross Frazier

Bear and Forbear Ross Frazier

A moment with a newspaper or a walk down a busy street is about all it takes to make one wonder if the human race has simply forgotten how to live. It's no surprise that self-help books are consistently atop best-seller lists - people are clearly looking for answers to questions they may not even know how to ask. The incredible truth is that the answers (and the right questions) we're all looking for can be found in a philosophy developed over 2000 years ago. Stoicism - quite possibly the world's most influential philosophical movement from antiquity - has recently regained some popularity as people discover its common-sense teachings to be the perfect counsel in our modern world. Stoicism has affected innumerable lives over the past millennia, even influencing modern psychology and psychotherapy. In fact, the most evidence-based psychological treatment in use today, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, traces its roots to Stoicism. Stoicism is more than a self-help book. It isn't just "do this and you'll be happy!" In fact, it is the many different layers of Stoicism, its elegant complexity, and its concern for our entire lives, that make it so relevant even to today. Stoicism, when earnestly practiced, allows us to live a fulfilled life by overcoming unhealthy emotions such as anxiety, anger, depression, greed, jealousy, and more. Stoicism trains us to think and act as our very nature intends: as rational and reasonable beings with authentic care and respect for our fellow man. Stoicism is a guide to human nature itself and finding and developing our better selves. It's a tried-and-true guide to life. In Bear & Forbear, Stoicism is introduced to the modern age through updated references and practical exercises directly from the masterfully-written Stoic texts themselves.