The Obstacle Is the Way

I want people to keep in mind that stoicism is not about being sad or not having emotions. It's about keeping an even keel and not getting upset or delusionally happy either. I actually think there's a core tenet of optimism in stoicism. To me, that's cheerful and that's happy, and that's the kind of attitude of someone who never gets depressed because they always feel like they have a way out. And so it's funny, Seneca has this reputation for being opulent, but in letters to a stoak, he talks about actually practicing poverty.