Observation

One of the most striking characteristics of Stoic writing is not its content but its form. The sentences are remarkably short. They are not simplistic, yet they appear compressed, as if larger structures of reasoning had been condensed into highly portable fragments. A few words often replace an explanation that would otherwise require pages of analysis. Statements such as “Focus only on what you control”, “Accept what happens”, or “You could leave life right now” have survived for centuries because they perform more than a philosophical function. They provide orientation at minimal cognitive cost.

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