Philosophical education for men.
Annibale CarracciThe Choice of Hercules, 1596Oil on canvas. Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.Virtue points to the mountain. Pleasure points to the garden. He has not chosen yet.
Essays on facing, enduring and carrying a life. Stoicism first, then Homer, Dostoevsky, Montaigne and whatever I am reading. Written in Mexico City and tested on its volcanoes, by a man who does not claim to have the answers.
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All essays
The Act of Confrontation
I am interested in the moment of decision, the moment you choose to stand there and face it instead of running.
Francisco de GoyaThe Dog, c. 1820Mural transferred to canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid.
To Choose One's Very Own Life
That's not courage; that's tourism.
Jean-François MilletThe Sower, 1850Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
The Art of Arriving
You never know when this rapture is going to arrive.
Caspar David FriedrichWanderer above the Sea of Fog, c. 1818Oil on canvas. Hamburger Kunsthalle.
What are you saving yourself for? What is the cowardice protecting?
From The Act of Confrontation
Questions the essays answer
Is courage running away to a new life?
No. Leaving your life for a plane ticket is a grander form of escapism. “That's not courage; that's tourism.” Courage lives in daily life, where you spend most of your days. Read the essay
What does Stoicism say about confronting fear?
That the decision to face it is its own reward and an act of freedom. Life decides where you were born and whether dogs chase you; the decision to face them is still yours. It only takes a yes to one question: are you going to deal with this? Read the essay
What is Stoic Answers?
Philosophical education for men: essays on facing, enduring and carrying a life, written in Mexico City. Stoicism first, then Homer, Dostoevsky, Montaigne and the books I am reading.
A writer who guides mountains.
I am Ricardo Guaderrama. I live in Mexico City and guide people up Pico de Orizaba, Iztaccíhuatl and La Malinche. The mountain is where I test what I read: whether an idea holds when you are cold, tired and still far from the top.
Stoic Answers is the name, but I do not have them. What I have is the questions, and the habit of facing them on paper.
The author on Pico de Orizaba5,636 m, the highest peak in Mexico