Stoic line hitting feeds
Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations popped in feeds this week: “You can get rid of many superfluous troubles…” (Meditations 9.32) — a viral nudge toward mental space and reframing (x.com). Philosopher Gregory Sadler is concurrently urging people to pair Stoic practice with Aristotelian ethics for broader moral development (x.com).
The line being shared online comes from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, specifically Book 9, section 32, in standard English translations of the text. (lexundria.com) The What Is Stoicism account that pushed the passage operates a Substack with more than 7,000 subscribers and publishes daily meditations that are routinely reshared across social feeds. (whatisstoicism.substack.com) Gregory B. Sadler — who urged pairing Stoic practice with Aristotelian ethics — is the educator behind “That Philosophy Guy,” a YouTube channel with roughly 171,000 subscribers and an active Substack where he publishes lectures and course announcements. (youtube.com) Sadler has recently promoted an 8-week online study of Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue (announced Feb. 28 on his platforms), a move that signals his practical interest in connecting Aristotelian virtue ethics to contemporary practice. (medium.com) Scholars and culture writers point to a recent surge in interest in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations — Penguin Random House sales rose from about 12,000 copies in 2012 to roughly 100,000 in 2019 — helping explain why short passages resurface and spread in social feeds. (dornsife.usc.edu)
