THE 14 CORE TRUTHS IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE

 A Representation of Stoicism in a Propositional Logic Form

These are the core dogmata of Sterling's Stoic system in propositional logic form:

**1. Eudaimonia ↔ Virtue**

   - Human flourishing consists in virtue alone

**2. Control(Virtue)**

   - Virtue is in our control

**3. Joy ↔ (Virtue ∧ Appreciation(Virtue))**

   - Joy is the appreciation of one's own virtue

**4. ¬Control(Externals)**

   - External things are not in our control

**5. Good(Virtue)**

   - Virtue is the only good

**6. Evil(Vice)**

   - Vice is the only evil

**7. ¬Good(Externals)**

   - External things are not good

**8. ¬Evil(Externals)**

   - External things are not evil

**9. Emotion ↔ Belief(Value(Externals))**

   - Emotions (pathē) occur if and only if we believe external things have value

**10. ¬Value(Externals)**

   - External things have no value

**11. ¬Emotion ↔ ¬Belief(Value(Externals))**

   - Without believing external things have value, there are no (pathological) emotions

**12. Virtue → ¬Belief(Value(Externals))**

   - Virtue leads to not believing external things have value

**13. Joy → ¬Belief(Value(Externals))**

  - Joy (appreciation of virtue) requires recognizing that external things have no value

**14. ∴ Eudaimonia ↔ (¬Belief(Value(Externals)) ∧ Virtue)**

   - Therefore, human flourishing consists in both virtue AND not believing external things have value

Conversion of Each Proposition From Formal Logic Into Stoic 500 Terminology

Claude:

You want me to take the Stoic 500 conversions I created (where I translated each of the 14 logical propositions into technical Stoic 500 terminology) and now convert THOSE technical versions into highly accessible everyday language.

I'll do this now - taking each Stoic 500 conversion and translating it to plain English that anyone can understand.

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## **THE 14 CORE TRUTHS IN EVERYDAY LANGUAGE**

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**1. Happiness = Being Good**

Real happiness—the deep, lasting kind—comes only from being a good person. Not from money, health, success, or anything else. Just from making good choices and thinking clearly. That's it. And this works both ways: if you're good, you're happy. If you're not good, you're not truly happy, no matter what else you have.

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**2. You Control Whether You're Good**

Your character is completely up to you. Nobody can force you to make bad choices. No circumstances can make you think badly. You always have complete control over whether you're a good person or not. This is the only thing in life you truly control completely.

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**3. Joy = Being Good + Knowing You're Being Good**

Real joy happens when you're living well and you recognize it. It's like playing music beautifully and knowing you're playing beautifully. The joy comes from doing the right thing and being aware that you're doing it—not from applause or rewards.

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**4. You Don't Control External Things**

Everything outside your mind—other people's opinions, your health, money, success, what happens to your body, the weather, politics—all of it operates by its own rules. You have zero control over these things. They happen independently of what you want.

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**5. Being Good Is the Only Real Good**

Being a good person—making right choices, thinking clearly, acting with integrity—is the only thing that's genuinely good in itself. Everything else that seems good (health, money, pleasure, success) only appears good but isn't really.

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**6. Being Bad Is the Only Real Evil**

Being a bad person—making wrong choices, thinking falsely, acting badly—is the only thing that's genuinely evil. Everything else that seems bad (sickness, poverty, pain, failure) only appears bad but isn't really.

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**7. External Things Aren't Good**

Health, wealth, success, pleasure, long life, fame—none of these are genuinely good, even though they seem that way. They're neutral. Plenty of healthy, wealthy, successful, famous people are miserable. These things don't make you genuinely happy.

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**8. External Things Aren't Evil**

Sickness, poverty, failure, pain, short life, obscurity—none of these are genuinely evil, even though they seem that way. They're neutral. Plenty of people flourish despite these things. These things don't make you genuinely miserable unless you believe they do.

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**9. Painful Emotions Happen When You Believe External Things Matter**

Every time you're anxious, angry, afraid, or desperately wanting something, it's because you believe something external is genuinely good or bad. Anxiety about a job interview? You believe career success (external) is genuinely good. Anger at an insult? You believe reputation (external) genuinely matters. Fear of death? You believe being alive (external) is genuinely good. The emotion comes from the false belief.

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**10. External Things Have No Real Value**

The value you think money, health, success, or other people's opinions have? You're putting it there. It's not really in those things. They're neutral—like the weather. You can be perfectly happy in rain or sunshine. You're projecting value onto externals that isn't really there.

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**11. No Painful Emotions When You Stop Believing External Things Matter**

When you genuinely recognize that external things aren't good or bad—just neutral—the painful emotions simply stop happening. You're not suppressing them. They just don't arise in the first place because the false belief that generated them is gone.

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**12. Being Good Means Recognizing External Things Don't Matter**

You can't be a truly good person while desperately craving money, success, or approval. Part of being good is seeing clearly what actually matters (your character) and what doesn't (everything else). Being good includes this recognition—they go together.

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**13. Real Joy Requires Recognizing External Things Don't Matter**

You can't experience deep joy while anxiously worrying about external outcomes. Real joy comes from doing things well, not from getting external results. It's like a child completely absorbed in playing a game beautifully—that's joy. Desperately needing to win? That's anxiety, not joy.

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**14. Real Happiness = Being Good + Not Caring About External Things**

Complete happiness requires both pieces:

- Actually being a good person (making right choices)

- Genuinely not treating external things as if they matter

You need both. If you're good but still anxious about money and success, you're not fully happy. If you're detached from externals but making bad choices, you're not happy either. Both together = complete happiness.

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 SUMMARY

**Your happiness depends entirely on one thing: being a good person.**

**Being good means:**

- Making right choices

- Thinking clearly

- Recognizing that external things (health, wealth, success, reputation, even life and death) are completely neutral—neither good nor bad

**Your suffering comes entirely from one mistake: believing external things are good or bad when they're actually neutral.**

**The solution:**

- Focus all your attention on being good

- Stop treating external things as if they matter

- Watch your painful emotions disappear

- Experience real, unshakeable happiness

**That's the entire system.**

These 14 statements are just different ways of expressing this one central truth.