SSR Books

01/03/2026

✖️Stillness, Discipline, Action✖️

One of my favorite books to read & reread.

It is a daily guide built on the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus. Each day offers a short reading paired with a clear lesson you can apply in your own life. The focus is simple, control what you can, let go of what you can’t, and act with reason instead of emotion.

The book pushes consistency over motivation. Small daily reflections train your mind to stay calm under pressure, disciplined in action, and steady through chaos. It is not theory for philosophers only. It is a daily mental workout for anyone who wants clarity, strength, and self control in real life.

Quotes worth sitting with:

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

“The obstacle in the path becomes the path.”

A few minutes a day. A sharper mind for life.

❌One page I didn’t agree with was about “shunning away what makes you angry 😤 “ which I consider to be quite unwise because it’s our ‘triggers’ that usually show us what we still need to work on…the fact that something ‘made you angry’ means it has power over you. Isnt there this famous quote from Epictetus himself saying “it is not things themselves that disturb us, but our opinions about them.” … and more potently, “Any person capable of angering you becomes your Master. He can anger you only when you permit yourself to he angered by him.”

Other than that, great book and highly recommended.

05/31/2025

✖️Useful and insightful read for everybody regardless of their “label”.✖️

If you have adhd, this book can be soothing and guiding. If you don’t, it will help you manage relationships better and have impactful tools for helping and understanding those who share certain common struggles.

👍🏽At the end of every chapter there’s a section on “how to support with…”

Lots of slick slang words mentioned.

At the end of the book theres a whole slang dictionary 📖 nice idea 💡

I don’t label myself with anything, but I did see myself in a few pages/descriptions, as I’m sure just about every single human most likely would due to the shared struggles we all face as part of this human experience.
Even the way I read this book could be classified as “adhd” given how I started it, bought and read multiple other books (which I also didnt finish most of them), then more than a year later came back to it and finished it.

Some parts are simply descriptions of blatant pettiness, weakness, and insecurity. Absolutely nothing to do with adhd. Thats just an empty excuse to quite literally hang your ‘dirty laundry’ on so you keep comforting yourself and not actually working on developing yourself… (p65-67)

Overall was a casual read with insights here and there.

This book was given to me by a friend during our time working together 💪🏽

05/10/2025

✖️Great little booklet. Comfortable & somewhat quick read with insightful quotes and nuggets of wisdom.✖️

🔹Quotes:

“And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing” - Marcus Aurelius

“ Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.“ - Epictetus

“How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?” - Seneca

“Since every man dies, it is better to die with distinction than to live long” - M.Rufus

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” - Cicero

05/10/2025

✖️Great little booklet. Comfortable & quick read with insightful quotes and nuggets of wisdom.✖️

Quotes:

“And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing” - Marcus Aurelius

“ Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.“ - Epictetus

“How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?” - Seneca

“Since every man dies, it is better to die with distinction than to live long” - M.Rufus

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” - Cicero

10/17/2024

✖️Potent✖️

📝Notes:

-Food is the foundation of behavior, according to our scholars, understanding of Allah’s words: يا أيها الرسول كلوا من الطيبات واعملوا صالحا

-Schools p.5
-Tyrannical gov p.5

-Parenting & government p.8-9 🔸

-Jihad p.10

-Taqwa: avoiding prohibitions and fulfilling injuctions both outwardly & inwardly.

-5 stations p.13

-how to remove worldly motivations from our hearts? P.19

-LYING is allowed in 3 scenarios: -rectify between people, and effective military tactic, or when an individual plays with his young children. P20-21
-questionable 🤔 “this is only applicable in a scenario, wherein one’s well-being or provisions or those of others is endangered.”…that’s a very interesting way to put it… 🤔 not sure I entirely resonate with that…

-BACKBITING permitted in the following circumstances: …(p.22)

🌟 “we should remember that the greatest struggle is speaking the truth in the presence of unjust authority”

-“The internal struggle (“greater“ jihad) is struggling to change and purify our own souls, while the external (“lesser” Jihad) is striving and struggling to bring about justice and righteousness in our world.”

-on argumentation p.30-31

-Domestic Abuse/Violence: “no room whatsoever exists in the Islamic tradition for domestic abuse or violence. A home is a sanctuary and if the wife and children do not feel safe, it is not a Muslim home buta Jahili house.”

10/17/2024

✖️Potent✖️

📝Notes:

-Food is the foundation of behavior, according to our scholars, understanding of Allah’s words: يا أيها الرسول كلوا من الطيبات واعملوا صالحا

-Schools p.5
-Tyrannical gov p.5

-Parenting & government p.8-9 🔸

-Jihad p.10

-Taqwa: avoiding prohibitions and fulfilling injuctions both outwardly & inwardly.

-5 stations p.13

-how to remove worldly motivations from our hearts? P.19

-LYING is allowed in 3 scenarios: -rectify between people, and effective military tactic, or when an individual plays with his young children. P20-21
-questionable 🤔 “this is only applicable in a scenario, wherein one’s well-being or provisions or those of others is endangered.”…that’s a very interesting way to put it… 🤔 not sure I entirely resonate with that…

-BACKBITING permitted in the following circumstances: …(p.22)

🌟 “we should remember that the greatest struggle is speaking the truth in the presence of unjust authority”

-“The internal struggle (“greater“ jihad) is struggling to change and purify our own souls, while the external (“lesser” Jihad) is striving and struggling to bring about justice and righteousness in our world.”

-on argumentation p.30-31

-Domestic Abuse/Violence: “no room whatsoever exists in the Islamic tradition for domestic abuse or violence. A home is a sanctuary and if the wife and children do not feel safe, it is not a Muslim home buta Jahili house.”

⬇️ Continued in comments below ⬇️

10/16/2024

✖️Interesting read for healing from addiction and accelerating spiritual growth✖️

💠Quotes:

“Psychedelics cause people to question their conditioning and they make it easier to access a state of peaceful happiness.” (P.52)

“keep in mind that every ibogaine provider has their own protocols that may be slightly different from what is described here, but the broad strokes should be the same everywhere.”

“Emotional suffering underlies all addiction. Drug use is a way to numb you from pain, and repeated drug use leads to addiction and dependence.”

📝Notes:

-Legal in 1 country: New Zealand 🇳🇿

-multiple origin legends (p.6-8)

-Religion: BWITI (from Gabon 🇬🇦)

-Comes from the iboga bushes in Gabon and Cameroon. Takes 8 years to mature, and the part we consume is only the root.

-Another source is the “Voacanga tree”. Grows in many countries in West Central Africa and India. It contains small quantities of ibogaine.

-Practices established by Eric Taub available in: Brazil, Netherlands, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Thailand, and multiple cities in Mexico

-18-MC (man made version of it) p.52

-People of the west: Howard Lotsof, Eric Taub, Dimitri Mugianis, Claudio Naranjo, Deborah Mash, Ken Alper

—Ibogaine does not cure addiction. I begin completely eliminates withdrawal symptoms from opiates. It also gets rid of cravings for opiates, co***ne, methamphetamine, and alcohol.

-4 phases:
1. Last about a day and a half. It involves entering into an altered state of consciousness and gradually returning to normal.
2. Lasts for another day and entails integrating the session
3. Last about three months, during this time, people usually feel energetic, happy, and free of cravings
4. Begins when emotional pain, inevitably resurfaces, and the person must confront it

-ibogaine can exacerbate heart problems. People with a history of heart attacks or irregular heart rhythms are not good candidates for an ibogaine session.

More info in comments below ⬇️

05/02/2024

04/28/2024

✖️Powerful & insightful book. A classic worth reading multiple times over every once in a while✖️

📝Notes:

-Men who have lived significant lives, are men who never waited: not for money, security, is, or women. Feel what you want to give most as a gift, to your woman and to the world, and do what you can to give it today. Every moment waited is a moment wasted, and each wasted moment degrades your clarity of purpose.

❌”in our modern world, however, polygamy is not much of an option” (p.93)… yes it still is. Very common in the middle east, specially among the financially rich.

❌”in your worship of women”(p.155)…no habibi a superior man only worships The Creator. Not creation.

Almost every single page is full of notes and potent quotes. This book deserves a video review and full blog to contain all the content that is worth highlighting and mentioning.

Very good book overall and highly recommended 👍🏾

My Blog is at www.SSR22.com, will be sharing the full review soon.

04/20/2024

✖️Nice book with a lot of great analogies✖️

🔸Quotes:
“This is not a book offering advice. It is an exchange of experiences.”

“Given that I am going to die, what should I do know?”

“ Advice is the theory of life, but the practice tends to be very different.”

“ in the preface to one of his books of stories, Anthony DeMello says this about the authors role:“his task has been that of the Weaver and the Dyer. He takes no credit at all for the cotton and the thread.”

“Harshness destroys; gentleness shapes”

“Wise is the man who knows how to change his situation when he has to”

“when any action becomes ruled by habit, it loses its meaning, and can even cause harm. An action is just an action, and there is only one secret: never allow habit to control your movements.“

“A sage is someone who, instead of extinguishing his passions, manages to control them”

“All paths lead to the same place, but choose your particular path and follow it to the end; never try to follow every path.“ p171

“ there is nothing to teach, because one cannot teach faith in the way you can basic math. Accept the mystery of faith, and the universe will reveal itself to you“ p172

“Only by having the courage to follow a path will the path reveal itself” p193

📝Notes:

P39 (use the blessings), 43 (group), 63, 73, 74,79-80, 97 ( 🍌 analogy), 127, 133 (forgiveness), 134, 139 (pray, & take action), 144 (لا يكلّف الله نفساً إلا وسعها), 146 (Jews on ‘luck’), 151 (Pelican symbol), 152 (stop? Or persevere?), 154 (your own pace), 155 (distorting signs), 159 (woman wanting a gift as beautiful as her😆), 161 (how to please God), 163 (forgiveness), 166 (Bread 🥖), 167 (Juggler analogy), 168 (technique for inner growth), 169 (Free Beauty), 185 (poetry), 193, 196 (God artist analogy),198 (God-movie screen analogy), 199 (Discipline & limits),

???
30, 45, 47, 65, 67, 82,

Questionable way of thinking…p136

Fear. P57

Against Pride in lineage p122

Fear of envy p121

❌69, 126, 130 (saying God is 3/trinity)