Rationality simply means to base everything – judgment, perception, action, etc. – on reason. The Stoics believe that the “logos” exist in our reason and therefore regard it as some divine power. It’s the only thing we can control and if we put our energy into it rather than things that outside ourselves, we will live a much better life. They constantly remind us to see things and events for what they truly are and withheld any preconceived biases.
Top Quotes
1. “To the stand-bys above, add this one: always to define whatever it is we perceive—to trace its outline—so we can see what it really is: its substance. Stripped bare. As a whole. Unmodified. And to call it by its name—the thing itself and its components, to which it will eventually return.
Nothing is so conducive to spiritual growth as this capacity for logical and accurate analysis of everything that happens to us.” Meditations 3.11
2. “With regard to whatever objects give you delight, are useful or are deeply loved, remember to tell yourself of what general nature they are, beginning from the most insignificant things.” Enchiridion Chapter 3
