Short definitions of Stoicism should not leave out virtue.

"Let them" oversimplifies Stoicism, which insists on fulfilling moral duties to others.

Lately, more and more people are asking for a short definition of Stoicism, and it is being summed up as “recognizing what is under our control and what is not.” What is being referenced is a portion of the ancient Stoic Epictetus’s student Arian’s notes. The Greek is ἐφ’ ἡμῖν. Or, “What is up to us.” If we expand a bit: "What lies within our agency.”

But “recognize what is up to us” was never meant to work as a summary of Stoic ethics, and it doesn’t. It offers no way to distinguish Stoicism from any other life philosophy. For example, summarizing Stoicism that way makes it hard to distinguish it from Mel Robbins’s Let Them theory, which is obviously appealing to people who recognize that their problem is trying to control situations they........

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