Daily text messages from a selection of global wisdom
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"The noble soul occupies itself with wisdom and friendship; of these the one is a mortal good, the other immortal." –Epicurus
"The maturity of a person: that means to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play." –Nietzsche
"It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings happiness." –Buddha
Ah, my beloved, fill the cup that clears
Today of past regrets and future fears:
Tomorrow—Why, Tomorrow I may be
Myself with yesterday's seven thousand years.
– Omar Khayyam
Today of past regrets and future fears:
Tomorrow—Why, Tomorrow I may be
Myself with yesterday's seven thousand years.
– Omar Khayyam
"There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after." – Ecclesiastes
"Keep death daily before one's eyes." – St. Benedict
"To know and yet think we do not know is the highest attainment; not to know and yet think we do know is a disease." – Lao Tzu
"All my days I have grown up amongst the wise, and have not found aught good for a person but silence."
– Pirkei Avot
– Pirkei Avot
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About
🙏 A daily moment of meditative reflection
Take a moment every day to reflect on life, purpose, and stillness.
🌐 Authors from around the world and across history
Philosophers, poets, monks, mystics, and everything in between. Expand your reading beyond your early education. Classics of philosophy and religions like Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and secular thinkers–all of whom have something meaningful to say to the believer and everyone else.
📖📲 Read classics of philosophy in easily digestible and applicable bites
You will make your way through full books one short message per day. Bring a bit of reading and reflection into your daily routine.
🤔 Why text messages?
We forget to read books and are inundated with email lists and app notifications that are easy to ignore. If you're serious about incorporating mindfulness into your daily life, the text message format is an uncluttered medium to prompt daily reading without having to remember.
I love getting a ping at 3pm CDT every day from @dailywisdomtxts! From Tagore through Rumi and otherwise, it's a helpful reminder for a self-reflective pause--guided by the wisdom of time immemorial. Check them out! pic.twitter.com/OjMKLsEprd
— Rod J. Naquin (@rodjnaquin) April 5, 2022
It's hard to decide which thinkers to get regular https://t.co/PWba0nCd3U from. Much as Rumi is constantly entertaining, and St Benedict offers a window into a different world, I might go with Epictetus next time: spoiled for choice!
— Tom (not moving on) Shakespeare (@TommyShakes) January 14, 2022
Interview with Caroline Casey on the Visionary Activist Radio Show (KPFA 94.1 FM)
FAQ
About Daily Wisdom Texts ▼
Taking a moment each day to step back from day-to-day activity for a bit of peace and contemplation can reduce your anxiety, exercise your mind, and focus your decisions on your true priorities.
- • St. Benedict's Rule For Monks
- • Marcus Aurelius's Meditations
- • readings from Epicurus
- • Khawaja ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī
- • Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching
- • the Book of Ecclesiastes
- • Edna St. Vincent Millay
- • Omar Khayyám's Rubáiyát
- • Nezahualcoyōtl (Nahua philosopher-king)
- • The Dhammapada (a collection of sayings from Gautama Buddha)
- • readings from Evagrius Ponticus
- • Epictetus
- • precepts of the Odawa and Ojibwe peoples (translated by Makade-binesi a.k.a. Andrew Blackbird)
- • Lal Ded (14th c. CE Kashmiri Hindu mystic)
- • Friedrich Nietzsche
- • Pirkei Avot (collection of maxims from the Rabbinic Jewish tradition)
- • Rabindranath Tagore
- • Sol Plaatje (Tswana proverbs)
- • the Rhinoceros Sutra (very early Buddhist text advocating the merit of solitary asceticism for pursuing enlightenment as opposed to practicing as a householder or in a community of monastics)
- • Heraclitus
- • Rumi
In the future we will add additional sources of wisdom you can select from to customize your subscription.
We continue to add new authors/sources regularly. Please email us with any requests.
Once a day.
If you'd prefer less frequently, please email us.
You may subscribe to up to two at a time. If you'd like additional subscriptions, please email us.
We forget to read books and are inundated with email lists and app notifications that are easy to ignore. If you're serious about incorporating mindfulness into your daily life, the text message format is an uncluttered medium to prompt daily reading without having to remember.
Cost, Payments, and Refunds ▼
After a 14 day free trial, Daily Wisdom Texts costs $2.99 per month.
Yes. The first 14 days are free.
You can pay using a credit card, debit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay.
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Not currently. But please email payments@dailywisdomtexts.com if you are interested in this.
Not currently. But please email payments@dailywisdomtexts.com if you are interested in this.
Please review our Refund Policy and if you believe you qualify email payments@dailywisdomtexts.com in accordance with our policy.
Simply text back ‘unsubscribe’ in reply to any text, SMS, or MMS we send to your phone number to cancel your subscription. Please email payments@dailywisdomtexts.com if you have any questions or issues.
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Customizing Your Subscription ▼
Yes. Reply "list authors" to your text messages to get the latest list of available authors at any time.
Update your subscription by texting back to add or remove
authors/sources, for example "add epicurus", "remove benedict".
You can also add/remove more than one at a time, for example "add
epicurus ecclesiastes" or "remove nietzsche rumi".
If you want to switch back in the future, you'll automatically
resume where in the text you left off.
Note: All commands are case insensitive, so you can text back with
capital or lowercase letters and it doesn't make a difference.
| Sample Command | Result |
|---|---|
| add epicurus | Subscribes to Epicurus |
| add 3 | Subscribes to Epicurus using the numeric shortcut (see the section below for all the numeric shortcuts) |
| add epicurus nietzsche | Subscribes to Epicurus and Friedrich Nietzsche |
| remove benedict | Unsubscribes from St. Benedict's Rule For Monks |
| remove 1 | Unsubscribes from St. Benedict's Rule For Monks using the numeric shortcut (see the section below for all the numeric shortcuts) |
| remove nietzsche rumi | Unsubscribes from Friedrich Nietzsche and Rumi |
| Author/Source | Shortcut | Numeric Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| St. Benedict's Rule for Monks | benedict | 1 |
| Lal Ded | ded | 2 |
| Epicurus | epicurus | 3 |
| Epictetus | epictetus | 4 |
| the Book of Ecclesiastes | ecclesiastes | 5 |
| Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching | ching | 6 |
| The Dhammapada (sayings of Buddha) | dhammapada | 7 |
| Evagrius Ponticus | evagrius | 8 |
| Omar Khayyám's Rubáiyát | khayyam | 9 |
| Khawaja ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī | al-ansari | 10 |
| precepts of the Odawa and Ojibwe peoples | makade | 11 |
| Nezahualcoyōtl | coyotl | 12 |
| Friedrich Nietzsche | nietzsche | 13 |
| Pirkei Avot | pirkei | 14 |
| Sol Plaatje (Tswana proverbs) | plaatje | 15 |
| Rumi | rumi | 16 |
| Rhinoceros Sutra | rhino | 17 |
| Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali | tagore | 18 |
| Edna St. Vincent Millay | millay | 19 |
| Heraclitus | heraclitus | 20 |
| Marcus Aurelius's Meditations | aurelius | 21 |
Reply "list subscriptions" to your text messages (or "list subs") to see which authors you're currently subscribed to.
Currently only English. Please email any requests for other languages.
Yes. Update your subscription by texting back with your preferred hour (in 0-23 format) and time zone abbreviation. For example, "update time 13 pdt"
Yes. Please email us if you'd like access.
Yes. Please email us if you'd like access.
Yes. Text back "update preference random" to receive a reading randomly selected from all the available texts (even if you haven't expliclity subscribed to them).
This way you'll automatically start getting readings from new authors/sources as we add them. You'll still proceed through the individual texts in order (and keep your current place in any you're already subscribed to), just receive a different one each day.
And reply "update preference unrandom" to resume receiving all of your subscriptions every day.
Yes. Text back to remove an author from the sources you'll get in your random subscription, for example "exclude epicurus", "exclude ded tagore".
Refer to the full list of author shortcuts above.
Yes. Reply back "exclude religious" to stop receiving any religious authors in your random subscription (including any future ones we add).
Reply back "include religious" to resume receiving religious authors in your random subscription (including any future ones we add).
Partnerships ▼
Yes! Check out Parker Settecase's curated playlist. Parker operates the Parker's Pensées podcast.
Please reach out to sam@dailywisdomtexts.com.
Other ▼
Please email us.
You can temporarily pause your subscription by texting back "pause" (and then resume by texting back "unpause"). If you'd like to permanently unsubscribe, text back "unsubscribe".
Samuel Henry created Daily Wisdom Texts. He has degrees in philosophy and computer science from the University of Chicago.
Initially, he wanted to receive the daily reading from St. Benedict's Rule For Monks. Some friends thought it was cool so he added them. Friends wanted to share it with their friends so he built a website instead of adding them manually. It's all grown from there based on user feedback.
Taking a moment each day to step back from day-to-day activity for a bit of peace and contemplation can reduce your anxiety, exercise your mind, and focus your decisions on your true priorities.