Think of your soul as the you your daily you rarely lives up to. It’s the higher you, the one that restrains itself from finishing a quart of Cherry Garcia ice cream before bed. This admirable soul of yours does not have to be sweet-smelling and beautiful.

Before I could establish an exercise habit, I faced a huge obstacle: time. I thought, If only I could conjure an hour, magically creating a twenty-five-hour day, then I would have a window for a daily workout. Perhaps a quantum physicist could pull this off, but I needed a different technique.

Civility isn’t the end of deliberative argument; it’s just the beginning. To get anyone even to listen to you, you have to make your audience believe you’re worth listening to.

Here’s a video I made while walking up my buggy meadow, telling how Aristotle would interpret my wealth.

My nerdy love of persuasion got me in the best shape of my life. Why write about self-persuasion in the first place? I’m hoping it will seduce more people into studying the original art of persuasion. Rhetoric created western civilization; and rhetoric can save it.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of “happiness” peaked in 1790; the word showed up in writing more than six times as often as it does today.

Both candidates used a particular rhetorical device to win over voters at a time when the electorate was in a terrible mood. That device—the greatest, most mesmerizing, The One Big Beautiful Trope—is the hyperbole.

The orators in ancient Greece and Rome recognized the magic of rhythm. They noticed that the cadence of an expression could have a huge influence on an audience[. Cicero was especially fond of one of the more powerful rhythms, the paean. We think of the paean today as a song or poem that praises, gives thanks, or celebrates a triumph. But it first meant words that heal.

The Latin root of “radical” is radix, meaning root. (Only a total nerd would find that last sentence delightful; you’re welcome. Or I’m sorry.)

We all need to practice time health.

Write these special effects to yank your audience into the scene.

More than just a quibble, it’s a reason we elevate the greedy and destroy the planet.

In Athens, after some searching I found the womb of democracy: the hillside called Pnyx (pronounced “Neex.”) There, the great Greek orators spoke to a boisterous crowd of as many as 15,000 Athenians. (The word Pnyx comes from pyknos, meaning “dense,” presumably referring to the packed-in citizens and not to their mental state.)

Grande grandly performs one of my favorite figures of irony. Just to make sure you’re not too entertained, here’s some good-for-you rhetoric 101.

They're the secret to framing. You can use this trio to win any issue.

It’s way better than the boring “and then…”

I’ve begun a Substack newsletter about rhetoric, called Aristotle’s Guide to Soul Bending. In my latest post, I talk about the college essay, and how writing it could change your life—even if you’re not applying to college.

The history of inventions is full of triumphal screwups. Doors carelessly left open. Or unlocked by the gods, letting in flies, criminals, scary winds…and great creations. Inspiration rarely comes from a bolt from the blue.

Inspiration, I think, is an individual phenomenon. We can wait for it, prompt it, play with combinations of existing ideas—or, in this post, refine a half-formed idea into a Platonic ideia of your intentions.