★★★★★ The Enchiridion, by Epictetus
Some things are in our control and others not
The Enchiridion
Epictetus
Some things are in our control and others not
The Enchiridion is a classic, arguably The Classic, of Stoic philosophy. It was not literally written by Epictetus -- rather, it was compiled his student Arrian, in part from Epictetus' The Discourses, which I can confirm is less easily readable, and in my personal opinion less engrossing.
The Enchiridion is basically a self-help pamphlet. Yes, the plague of self-help books goes back at least that far! This particular edition is listed at 59 pages. You can easily find it for free on the Internet.
I hate self-help books, but I love this one. I'm going to give you the first paragraph
1. Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.
The Stoics had a reputation for being indifferent to suffering. Although that is not really accurate, there is something to it. Stoicism is concerned mostly with what you should pay attention to -- what you should care about. The fundamental idea of Stoicism is that you should care about those very few things you have control over.
The Enchiridion is full of wisdom. Stoicism is a philosophy and strength and self-control.