100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders 🚀

Why I am a Stoic

By Seneca
Series: Penguin Archive
4.29 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 80 ratings, 23 reviews)
Brief Description
Why I am a Stoic 90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Plagued by ill-health, violently sick at sea, irritated by renovation costs — Seneca is never less than sympathetically human. In these letters written 2000 years ago, the ancient philosopher speaks to the... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$1700
Elsewhere:
$1799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Why I am a Stoic

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

Plagued by ill-health, violently sick at sea, irritated by renovation costs — Seneca is never less than sympathetically human. In these letters written 2000 years ago, the ancient philosopher speaks to the reader today with lucidity and warmth.

Whether advising on how to live a good life, spend time alone or free oneself from fears of death, Seneca is the wise and compassionate friend we all need now.

Series: Penguin Archive

View all
  • An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
    An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by César Aira is part of 90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books. It is 1837 and a brilliant German artist sets out to cross the mountains between Chile and Argentina. Perhaps nobody before him has been able to paint the sights that unfold—vast chasms, surreal plants and animals......
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Ecce Homo
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Ecce Homo No, I don't hate being black. I'm just tired of saying it's beautiful. No, I don't hate myself. I'm just tired of people bruising their knuckles on my jaw. A novella with the force of a screaming trumpet flare, Dambudzo Marechera's seminal literary debut explores a body and spirit...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • How I Came to Know Fish
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Of all the sleep a man can have, the fisherman's sleep is the sweetest. It is the greatest of luxuries - sleep and fishing. Through tender, vivid, and often humorous recollections - from magical fishing trips to the rivers and ponds of Bustehrad to his charismatic father's eccentric business ventures -...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Reflections in a Golden Eye
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books On a military base in 1930s Georgia, Private Ellgee Williams catches sight of his captain's wife in the nude and becomes obsessed with her. But Captain Penderton—unhappily married to the unfaithful Leonora—in turn erotically fixates on Williams. Spare, muscular and sensual, with the dramatic vision of a Greek myth, Carson McCullers'...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Requiem
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books My dear friend, he said, life is strange and strange things happen in life It is a hot July Sunday in Lisbon and our narrator has an appointment to meet someone by the quayside. But when his guest does not arrive, he spends the day wandering the deserted city, encountering some...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Dreaming Child
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books As for me I have one ambition only- to invent stories, very beautiful stories Gothic, expansive and truly spellbinding, Karen Blixen's short stories offer incisive psychological portraits and imaginative visions of war, longing and tender love. Here, an orphan boy creates an elaborate fantasy of a life of grandeur, a feudal...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Driver's Seat
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Muriel Spark claimed The Driver's Seat to be her best and creepiest novel. Once you have met her heroine Lise—heading for the holiday of a lifetime in an extraordinarily garish dress and with violence on her mind—you will understand why.
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Umbrella
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books The Umbrella evokes the delicate interplay of emotion and subtle storytelling. In the words of the author: "Then she would feel exposed and cry, as if her life and happiness were ruined for all time, even though she could still hide it from those she only came in contact with by...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Tristessa
    Tristessa is a strange fever-dream of morphine sickness and belly-deep sadness. Or, in the words of Allen Ginsberg: 'a narrative meditation studying a hen, a rooster, a dove, a cat, a chihuahua dog, family meat, and a ravishing, ravished junky lady, first in their crowded bedroom, then out to drunken streets, taco stands, and pads at dawn in Mexico City...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Daemon Lover
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books It's terribly important that I get in touch with a gentleman who may have stopped in here to buy flowers this morning. Terribly important. Sometimes, the person you think you love isn't who they seem. And sometimes, you can be your own deception. Spanning Shirley Jackson's entire career, these devilish tales...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Hop-Frog
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Edgar Allan Poe's short stories have lost none of their power to horrify. He remains a destabilisingly terse sketcher of ideas, a writer who allows the reader to fill in the many ghastly blanks in his narratives of violence, retribution and animalism. It is hard to recommend Hop-Frog wholeheartedly (its original...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Monkey King Makes Havoc in Heaven
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Wu Cheng'en's 16th-century novel Journey to the West is widely regarded as one of the most important Chinese novels ever written. Here, in Julia Lovell's witty and charismatic translation, we meet one of its heroes - Sun Wukong, or Monkey King, whose powers include shape-shifting, immortality, and being incredibly rude. Though...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241746899

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 17 April 2025

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 7.0mm

Width: 111.0mm

Height: 181.0mm

Weight: 82g

Pages: 128

About the Author

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c.4BC - AD65) was born in Cordoba, Spain, where he was brought up studying the traditional virtues of republican Roman life. He became a teacher of rhetoric but attracted attention for his incisive style of writing.

Also by Seneca

View all
  • Letters from a Stoic
    In Letters from a Stoic, Lucius Annaeus Seneca imparts timeless wisdom through a series of epistles addressed to his friend Lucilius. The letters encompass a myriad of topics centred around the moral and ethical underpinnings of Stoic philosophy. Each letter is a profound reflection on life, offering practical advice on how to live virtuously, manage one's emotions, and achieve peace...
    By Seneca
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2300
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On the Shortness of Life
    Seneca’s On the Shortness of Life is a classical masterpiece that delves into the age-old human concern of time and mortality. Written as letters and discourses to his friend Paulinus, Seneca reflects on how people squander their time in the pursuits of ambition, trivial pleasures, and material gains. Through eloquent and impassioned prose, Seneca urges us to embrace a more...
    By Seneca
    Paperback
    $1999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Letters from a Stoic
    Letters from a Stoic by Donald Robertson and Seneca is an outstanding compilation offering profound insights into Stoic philosophy through a series of personal and poignant letters. Set in the Roman era, these letters serve as a medium through which Seneca, an esteemed stoic philosopher and statesman, communicates his wisdom to his friend and protégé, Lucilius Junior. Covering timeless topics...
    Hardback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2899
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • How To Be a Stoic
    Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen. How can we cope when life's events seem beyond our control? These words of consolation and inspiration from the three great Stoic philosophers—Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius—offer ancient wisdom on how to face life's adversities and live well in the world. GREAT...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $1999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Letters from a Stoic
    Letters from a Stoic by Seneca is a timeless philosophical work that dives deep into the heart and mind of one of Ancient Rome's greatest thinkers. Through a collection of epistolary writings, Seneca, the eminent Stoic philosopher, shares his wisdom and insights on how to lead a meaningful and virtuous life. These letters, originally penned to his friend Lucilius, discuss...
    By Seneca
    Hardback
    $3300
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dialogues and Letters
    A major writer and a leading figure in the public life of Rome, Seneca (c. 4 BC - AD 65) ranks among the most eloquent and influential masters of Latin prose. This selection explores his thoughts on philosophy and the trials of life. In the Consolation to Helvia, he strives to offer solace to his mother following his exile in...
    By Seneca
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • How to Do the Right Thing
    There are times when we've all felt that we haven't been treated as we deserve—that we've been misjudged, shortchanged, or given a raw deal. And, at one time or another, other people have probably felt that we've treated them just as unfairly. How to Do the Right Thing draws on the principles of ancient Stoicism as articulated by the Roman...
    By Seneca
    Hardback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • On The Shortness of Life
    Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher and statesman. He is best known for his dramatic plays and philosophical works that include some of the most important writings on stoicism. On the Shortness of Life was written in his later years as a letter to his brother. This age-old wisdom is as applicable to us in our lives today as it...
    By Seneca
    Paperback
    $1999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Four Tragedies and Octavia
    A selection of Seneca's most powerful and macabre plays. Based on the legends used in Greek drama, Seneca's plays are notable for the exuberant ruthlessness with which disastrous events are foretold and then pursued to their tragic and often bloodthirsty ends. Thyestes depicts the menace of an ancestral curse hanging over two feuding brothers, while Phaedra portrays a woman tormented...
    By Seneca
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • How to Give
    To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do, but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, On Benefits (De Beneficiis). James Romm's splendid new translation of essential selections from this work...
    By Seneca
    Hardback
    $5499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • How to Have a Life
    A vibrant new translation of Seneca's On the Shortness of Life, a pointed reminder to make the most of our time. Who doesn't worry sometimes that smartphones, the Internet, and TV are robbing us of time and preventing us from having a life? How can we make the most of our time on earth? In the first century AD, the...
    By Seneca
    Hardback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Moral Essays, Volume I
    Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, born at Corduba (Cordova) around 4 BCE, hailed from a prominent and wealthy family. He spent his ailing childhood and youth in Rome under the care of an aunt. Seneca became renowned for his skills in rhetoric, philosophy, money-making, and imperial service. Despite facing disgrace during Claudius' reign, he rose to become a tutor and then, in...
    By Seneca
    Hardback
    $5999
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks

More from Philosophy & Psychology

View all
  • Eat Your Ice Cream
    New Release
    Eat Your Ice Cream
    The New York Times bestseller that presents a bold new vision for living well and ageing with purpose from a world-renowned health expert THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From a leading doctor and world-renowned health expert, the simple, uplifting and practical guide to cutting through the wellness noise, living well and ageing with purpose. ‘Essential reading for anyone who...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Winner's Formula
    The Neuroscience of Peak Performance, Success, and Happiness Why do some people win all the time? Why do others languish? From Olympians to Formula 1 drivers, addicts to billionaires, cognitive neuroscientist Dr Kerry Spackman has spent decades working to help people understand how to succeed. In The Winner's Formula, Kerry explains what goes on in your brain when you are...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Atomic Habits
    Atomic Habits by James Clear is a transformative guide that demonstrates how tiny, incremental changes in behaviour can fundamentally reshape your life. Rather than urging sweeping transformations, Clear advocates for the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions. Whether it’s performing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes earlier, or making a brief, focused phone call, these minuscule adjustments,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Man's Search For Meaning
    Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...
    Paperback
    $1800
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Inside the Box
    How to do more with less and use limits to stimulate creativity, innovation and collaboration, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Range. We live in a world that gives us seemingly infinite choices and values freedom above all else. We have an unprecedented number of options regarding what to do, who to be and how to spend our time....
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3900
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Body Keeps the Score
    The Body Keeps the Score by Dr Bessel van der Kolk is a compelling and compassionate exploration of the deep-seated impact of trauma on the human body and mind. This groundbreaking work delves into the complex causes of trauma and paints a vivid picture of the revolutionary treatments that are enabling countless individuals to reclaim their lives filled with purpose...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Tell Me Where It Hurts
    Leading expert Rachel Zoffness bridges the gap between medicine and psychology to get to the heart of treating pain We can move the dial on pain Every one of us will experience pain, be it back pain, the pain of childbirth, or living in an ageing body. Not a single one of us will escape. But what if everything you...
    Hardback
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Book of Awakening
    A new edition of the #1 NYT's bestseller by Mark Nepo, who has been called "one of the finest spiritual guides of our time" and "a consummate storyteller." Immerse yourself in The Book of Awakening, a compelling spiritual daybook by philosopher-poet and cancer survivor, Mark Nepo. This remarkable work is a profound manual for living a more deeply connected and...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Elsewhere:
    $4499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Strangers
    The must-read memoir of the end of a marriage and the start of a personal revolution, based on the iconic Modern Love essay in the New York Times and perfect for fans of Glennon Doyle. "A beautifully written eulogy for the loss of a relationship" — Joyce Carol Oates How do we go on when a loved one betrays us?...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Strong Ground
    #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown returns with an urgent call to reimagine the essentials of courageous leadership. In a time when uncertainty runs deep and bluster, hubris and even cruelty are increasingly framed as acceptable leadership, Brown delivers practical, actionable insights that illuminate the mindsets and skill sets essential to reclaiming focus and driving growth through connection, discipline and...
    Hardback
    $4000
    Elsewhere:
    $5500
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Anxious Generation
    A powerful argument for reclaiming childhood—and all human relationships—from the online world, from the influential social psychologist and international bestselling author. Jonathan Haidt has spent his career speaking truth and wisdom in some of the most difficult spaces—communities polarised by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the mental health emergency hitting teenagers today in many countries around...
    Paperback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Stimulated Mind
    A practical, empowering plan to boost your day-to-day brain function and prevent dementia - by a renowned neuroscientist and performance coach. 'From day one I was always blown away by Dr Tommy Wood's command of the science from which he communicates.' - Dr Peter Attia, bestselling author of Outlive- The Science and Art of Longevity 'As global health declines, Dr...
    Paperback
    $3800
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.