I enclose a video link for a very well produced discussion on stoic wisdom's. The word "stoic" today, has little to do with its origin as the religion of Plato, Socrates and one of four main Theosophie's of Greek culture, during the Golden age. Stoicism was a practice that sought extreme simplicity. It has roots in the teachings of Pythagoras and his "seekers" collective school. It would gain the historical label as Neo-Platonic philosophy. It was the devout practice of the Essenes, a vegetarian Jewish tribe that would becomes the Nazarite's of the time of Jesus and John the Baptist. Fasting, prayer, nature-cure, using clay, water as therapeutics are noted in our histories of these peoples. My favorite read on the neo-Platonic movement through our past is found in Manley P. Hall's "Pathways of Philosophy". The four religious philosophies of Plato's time, would soon drop the 12 Gods as well as the Epicurian, self indulgent religions and leave stoicism and deism. An agnostic as compared to a believer in a sacred tradition of creation, the all-mighty, and a set of rules with human governance. This would prove to be two independent philosophical approaches to their theories of life, purpose and human/societal responsibilities. These are best illustrate by Machiavelli's The Prince. It is similarly contrasted in the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke.
Just as we find in the New Testament, the stoics spoke of living with just a cane, sandal's and a wallet, with the "wallet" meaning backpack. Sleeping on the ground, placing mind over matter were the way of stoicism, yet their remained the common practice of marriage, home and family. It would easily be found in the beatitude's of Mathew. It embraces a life that seeks the 7 virtues, as well as wisdom. It is easily found in the Franciscan views of voluntary poverty, as well as Henry David Thoreau.
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