... like I'm 5 years old
Stoicism is a philosophy that was first introduced by the ancient Greeks. At its very core, Stoicism teaches us that while we can't always control what happens to us, we can control how we react to it. For Stoics, the key to happiness is not to try and change the world around us, but to change the way we view and react to the world. Instead of getting angry or sad about something that happens to us, Stoics would encourage us to take a step back, think about why it's happening, and figure out how we can learn from it or use it to our advantage.
Imagine you're a surfer. You can't control the waves, but you can control how you ride them. That's Stoicism in a nutshell.
... like I'm in College
Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, and it was later popularized by the likes of Epictetus, Seneca, and the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The philosophy asserts that virtue (such as wisdom) is happiness and judgment should be based on behavior, rather than words. That we don’t control and cannot rely on external events, only ourselves and our responses.
Stoicism has just a few central teachings. It sets out to remind us of how unpredictable the world can be. How brief our moment of life is. How to be steadfast, and strong, and in control of yourself. And finally, that the source of our dissatisfaction lies in our impulsive dependency on our reflexive senses rather than logic.
Stoicism doesn't concern itself with complicated theories about the world, but with helping us overcome destructive emotions and act on what can be acted upon. It's built for action, not endless debate.
Imagine your life as a Lego set. There are different types of bricks - some are the events that happen to you (like getting a job or losing a friend), some are your reactions (like being happy or sad), and some are things you can't control (like the weather or other people's actions).
Now, Stoicism is like the instruction manual for this Lego set. It tells you to focus on the bricks you can control - your reactions. You can't change the shape or color of the other bricks, just like how you can't change what happens to you or how others behave. But you can decide where to place your bricks and how to react to them.
Also, Stoicism tells you to view your Lego set from a distance every now and then. This means stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, not just the single brick that's troubling you. It reminds you that it's just a tiny part of your entire Lego masterpiece.
In the end, Stoicism helps you build a life that's resilient, peaceful, and harmonious, no matter what bricks life throws at you.
... like I'm an expert
Stoicism is a practical philosophy, which means it is made to be practiced, not just talked about. At its core, Stoicism holds that negative emotions result from errors in judgment and that a wise person would not undergo such emotions. The Stoics believed in determinism, the idea that everything that happens is a result of a previous cause. As such, they held that human beings should not despair over life events, but rather accept them as part of the natural order of things.
To the Stoics, the passions, or intense, ungoverned emotions, were seen as the primary cause of suffering and wrongdoing. As such, they advocated for apatheia, or freedom from passion, achieved through living according to reason, focussing on what's in our control, and maintaining a cosmopolitan outlook. Stoicism's ethical teachings have had a profound impact on various other philosophical systems and have seen a modern resurgence in the form of cognitive-behavioral therapy.