Stoicism and Epicureanism

First read the following article which details  the most practical and contemporary tenets of stoicism. The article also contains the TED talk concerning the actual biochemical benefits of stress.

Me-ow. (I know, sorry.)

http://guardianlv.com/2013/11/is-stoicism-the-secret-to-happiness-video/

I also recommend watching this video in which former UFC fighter and high school math teacher, Rich Franklin, explores the benefits of learning to lose:

Yeah, so he is not losing here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L3OG-fl9tE

Then, peruse the information I collected regarding Stoicism and Epicureanism.

The following is a portion of the definition of Stoicism from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

Stoicism was one of the new philosophical movements of the Hellenistic period... The Stoics did, in fact, hold that emotions like fear or envy (or impassioned sexual attachments, or passionate love of anything whatsoever) either were, or arose from, false judgements and that the sage—a person who had attained moral and intellectual perfection—would not undergo them. The later Stoics of Roman Imperial times, Seneca and Epictetus, emphasise the doctrines (already central to the early Stoics' teachings) that the sage is utterly immune to misfortune and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. 

"...Virtue is sufficient for happiness."

Questions to consider:

• Does this philosophy help explain the words and actions of Shakespeare's Brutus?
• Does he consider himself to be a "sage," one immune to emotional judgments?

Consider how he responds to the death of his wife, Portia:
     Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala:
     With meditating that she must die once,
      I have the patience to endure it now. [IV, iii]