Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living

Stoicism, one of the most significant philosophical schools in the Roman Empire, offers effective methods to strengthen character in the face of modern challenges. Seneca—considered the most gifted and humane writer of Stoicism—teaches the importance of freedom and meaning in life.

His most extensive work, consisting of more than a hundred “Moral Letters to Lucilius” written to a close friend, discusses how to master the long-forgotten art of friendship and understand its true essence, how to deal with anger, survive losses, turn failures into opportunities for personal growth, how to live in society, how to be sincere, not be afraid of death, feel love and gratitude fully, and how to gain freedom, calm, and joy.

In a book whose translation rights have been acquired in 14 countries, the philosopher David Fiedeler examines Seneca’s classic works—explaining his ideas without oversimplifying them. Seneca’s wisdom is best absorbed through a daily ritual, such as morning coffee, letting time-tested truths about the human soul sink in—truths it turns out have hardly changed over the last two thousand years.