The Examined Life
Daily self-examination of thoughts, words, and deeds is the cornerstone of Stoic practice and moral growth.
Following the Socratic tradition, Stoics practiced nightly reflection on the day's events: Where did I fail in virtue? Where did I succeed? What could I have done better? Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus all wrote personal reflections as a discipline of self-scrutiny and moral improvement.
Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.
Meditations itself is a record of Marcus Aurelius's daily self-examination — a practice deliberately public in form yet private in intention.
Meditations