Wisdom from the Early Cynics, Diogenes 44

On being asked what he had gained from philosophy, Diogenes replied, "This at least, if nothing else—to be prepared for every fortune." 

Asked where he came from, he said, "I am a citizen of the world." 

Certain parents were sacrificing to the gods, that a son might be born to them. "But," said Diogenes, "do you not sacrifice to ensure what manner of man he shall turn out to be?" 

When asked for a subscription towards a club, he said to the president: 

Despoil the rest; off Hector keep thy hands. 

The mistresses of kings he designated queens; for, said he, they make the kings do their bidding. 

When the Athenians gave Alexander the title of Dionysus, he said, "Me too you might make Sarapis." 

Someone having reproached him for going into dirty places, his reply was that the sun too visits cesspools without being defiled.

—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.63 

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 84

It is also the Stoic doctrine that amongst the wise there should be a community of wives with free choice of partners, as Zeno says in his Republic and Chrysippus in his treatise On Government—and not only they, but also Diogenes the Cynic and Plato. 

Under such circumstances we shall feel paternal affection for all the children alike, and there will be an end of the jealousies arising from adultery. 

The best form of government they hold to be a mixture of democracy, kingship, and aristocracy, or the rule of the best. 

Such, then, are the statements they make in their ethical doctrines, with much more besides, together with their proper proofs: let this, however, suffice for a statement of them in a summary and elementary form. 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.131 

Sayings of Publilius Syrus 200

Put a bridle on your tongue, but at all hazards on your baser members. 

IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch, Allegory of Intemperance (c. 1500) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.4

Well, I had much ado to persuade that friend to change his mind. But it is impossible to move some of the men of today, so that I think that I know now what I did not know before, the meaning of the familiar saying, “A fool is not to be persuaded nor broken of his folly.” 
 
May it never be my lot to have for friend a wise fool: nothing is more difficult to handle. 
 
“I have decided.” 
 
So have the madmen, but the more firmly they persist in false judgements the more hellebore do they require. Will you not act as the sick man should, and call in the physician? 
 
As he says, “I am sick, master; help me: consider what I ought to do, it is for me to obey you”, so you should say, “I do not know what I ought to do, but I have come to learn.” 
 
Oh no, you say: “Talk to me about other things; this I have decided.” 
 
Other things indeed! What is greater or more to your advantage than that you should be convinced that it is not sufficient to have decided and to refuse all change of mind? This is the firmness of madness, not of health. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 
 
I will often hear people reducing a poor decision to a mere lack of intelligence, with phrases such as “dumber than a box of rocks” or “you can’t fix stupid”. I have recently discovered how in the South, there can be nothing kinder, and also nothing more condescending, than exclaiming “Bless your heart!” 
 
Now I understand that we tend to use words casually, and that we should not split hairs over colloquialisms, but I will protest if someone hastily insists on equating folly with idiocy. While we are all gifted with different degrees of intellectual skills, and some of us are challenged by disabilities beyond our control, a man does not become good because his is a genius, or bad because he is a dunce—the difference arises from the depth of our deliberate concern, regardless of any IQ scores. 
 
Some of the best folks I have known were dismissed for being dull, and some of the worst folks I have known were celebrated for being clever. Whatever the mental capacity, it is a caring and humble attitude that builds genuine character, for anyone is able to form a sound judgment, within the limits of what nature has provided to him. The quickest or the flashiest solution is not necessarily the wisest or the most loving; slow and steady wins the race. 
 
No, I do not suffer a fool gladly, if by foolishness we mean a willful refusal to think with clarity and integrity. It isn’t that the fool can’t reason, but rather that he won’t reason, choosing to begin with his preferred conclusion, instead of arriving at an uncomfortable conclusion through his own hard deliberation. As the Thomist might say, one may cast blame for vincible ignorance, not for invincible ignorance. 
 
It is indeed a sort of madness when I close my mind to some inconvenient truth, though the insanity is something I freely invited, by making my immediate desire the final measure. However mortifying they felt, the most fruitful moments of my life were always the ones where I finally adapted my wants to fit my needs. I refused to talk it over while I was obdurate, and the fever only lifted once I made that painful admission: “I don’t know. Help me to work this out.” 
 
Don’t get caught up in being “smart” or “educated”, which is often no more than an excuse for being headstrong. An open mind will bend without breaking. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch, The Ship of Fools (c. 1500) 

Frippisms 7

If you wish to change the world, better first to know the world you wish to change. 

Maxims of Goethe 92

For the man of the world a collection of anecdotes and maxims is of the greatest value, if he knows how to intersperse the one in his conversation at fitting moments, and remember the other when a case arises for their application. 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.3

Will you not lay this foundation to begin with—that is, examine your decision and see whether it is sound or unsound, and then afterwards build on it your firmness and unshaken resolve? 
 
But if you lay a rotten and crumbling foundation you will not be able to build even a tiny building; the more courses and the stronger that you lay upon it the quicker will it collapse. 
 
You are removing from life without any reason our familiar friend, our fellow citizen in the great City and the small, and then, though you are guilty of murder and of killing one who has done no wrong, you say, “I must abide by my decisions.” 
 
If perchance it occurred to you to kill me, would you be bound to abide by your decisions? 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 
 
In what we like to call a “developed” country, I imagine that all of us have suffered under the dull inflexibility of a mindless bureaucracy. I repeatedly run across these three variations, which are common symptoms of the mulishness Epictetus describes: 
 
“I really don’t want to do this, but I’m afraid I have to.” 
 
Strictly speaking, you never have to do anything you don’t want to, but I suspect your real meaning to be that you can’t be bothered to reevaluate your priorities. If you truly believed it to be right, you would gladly change your tune. 
 
“These are the procedures. These are the rules. These are the best practices. My hands are tied.” 
 
I believe Emerson put it best: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” A law ought to be in service to the good of people, not the good of people in service to a law. As our understanding increases, our practices should be modified accordingly. 
 
“Unfortunately, the wheels are already in motion. There is no turning back.” 
 
I don’t think I have ever seen this one to be literally true. I was once deeply impressed by a fellow who intercepted a letter, after he had second thoughts about the contents of a recommendation. We are all capable of such concern and diligence. 
 
I am usually met with blank stares, or sometimes branded as a disturber of the peace, whenever I question the lazy assumptions behind a tired routine. However politely I point out how the house is built on sand, the stubborn man will take it as a personal insult, as it does not occur to him why a suggestion for improvement can be a mark of respect. 
 
A local contractor was recently taken to court over new homes already sinking into the ground. His defense was that the cost of repouring the foundations would have been too high—though surely not as high as the price he must now pay for his carelessness? He was more ashamed of being caught than he was of having done a poor job to begin with. 
 
I’m afraid Epictetus is not exaggerating when he says this can also be a matter of life and death. How many innocent men have been executed because a district attorney couldn’t admit he was wrong? How many livelihoods have been destroyed because a mogul refused to deviate from his master plan? You say it can’t be all that many, just a small minority? You would not say such a thing if you chose humility over pride, and if you loved virtue more than utility. 
 
There comes a critical point in our growth when a mistake is no longer something to be hidden away, but rather an opportunity to finally become responsible for ourselves. To admit the error of my thinking is a necessary step toward any progress; love regularly means having to say you’re sorry. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

Frippisms 6

The way we describe our world shows how we think of our world. 
How we think of our world governs how we interpret our world. 
How we interpret our world directs how we participate in the world. 
How we participate in the world shapes the world. 

Delphic Maxims 101

Ἁμαρτάνων μετανόει 

Repent of sins 

IMAGE: Gerard Seghers, Repentance of St. Peter (c. 1629) 

Frippisms 5

If we are divorced from the consequences of our actions, our actions are likely to be inappropriate. 
Perhaps dangerous. 
Perhaps disastrous. 

Songs of Innocence 14

Night (1789) 

William Blake (1757-1827) 

The sun descending in the west, 
The evening star does shine; 
The birds are silent in their nest, 
And I must seek for mine. 

The moon, like a flower, 
In heaven's high bower, 
With silent delight 

Sits and smiles on the night. 

Farewell, green fields and happy groves, 
Where flocks have took delight. 
Where lambs have nibbled, silent moves 
The feet of angels bright; 
Unseen they pour blessing, 
And joy without ceasing, 
On each bud and blossom, 
And each sleeping bosom. 

They look in every thoughtless nest, 
Where birds are covered warm; 
They visit caves of every beast, 
To keep them all from harm. 
If they see any weeping 
That should have been sleeping, 
They pour sleep on their head, 
And sit down by their bed. 

When wolves and tigers howl for prey, 
They pitying stand and weep; 
Seeking to drive their thirst away, 
And keep them from the sheep. 
But if they rush dreadful, 
The angels, most heedful, 
Receive each mild spirit, 
New worlds to inherit. 

And there the lion's ruddy eyes 
Shall flow with tears of gold, 
And pitying the tender cries, 
And walking round the fold, 
Saying, "Wrath, by His meekness, 
And, by His health, sickness 
Is driven away 
From our immortal day. 

"And now beside thee, bleating lamb, 
I can lie down and sleep; 
Or think on Him who bore thy name, 
Graze after thee and weep. 
For, washed in life's river, 
My bright mane for ever 
Shall shine like the gold 
As I guard o'er the fold." 

Frippisms 4

Want is of the earth; 
Wish is from the stars. 

Cosmos 27

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.2

Let me describe another state of mind to be found in those who hear these precepts amiss. A friend of mine, for instance, determined for no reason to starve himself. I learnt of it when he was in the third day of his fasting, and went and asked him what had happened. 
 
“I have decided,” said he. 
 
Yes, but, for all that, say what it was that persuaded you; for if your decision was right, here we are at your side ready to help you to leave this life, but, if your decision was against reason, then change your mind. 
 
“A man must abide by his decisions.” 
 
What are you doing, man? Not all decisions, but right decisions. For instance, if you were convinced at the moment that it was right, abide by that opinion if you think fit, and do not change it, but say, “one must abide by one's decisions." 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 

 
I spit out my tea, all over the desk, when I first read this section. I had recently been flirting with the discipline of fasting, and it felt as if Epictetus was personally calling me out for my eccentricity. 
 
I was sure I had a good reason, but was I really just sticking with it out of pure stubbornness? To merely prove that I could do it was hardly enough, like when I doggedly waited all those years for a phone call or a letter from the girl who had long ago left me behind. 
 
While my experiment with fasting is a story for another time, this letter reminds me to always check my work, to be critical of my intentions, to honestly evaluate if I am acting out of a genuine conviction or simply out of vanity and willfulness. It is bad to deceive others, even worse to deceive ourselves. 
 
My mother often used a German phrase, “Jetzt erst recht nicht!”, or “Certainly not now!”, whenever I repeatedly hounded her for something she had already denied me. This drove me absolutely bananas, since I assumed she was being hard-nosed, though the irony was that I became more unyielding as she was trying to teach me a lesson about not always having my way. 
 
An acceptance of how it must unfold is a vastly underrated virtue, for I should yield when reason tells me why it is not meant to be. 
 
Contrary to what the liberals or the conservatives would have us believe, change is in itself neither good nor bad. Perhaps I will learn why I was mistaken, in which case I should mend my ways, or I will find a confirmation for my point of view, in which case I should stand my ground. 
 
The true, the good, and the beautiful remain the same in the mind of God, and yet our own awareness is constantly in flux; sometimes we move closer, and sometimes we drift away. Decide when you are sure, but then always be prepared to reconsider your choice. 
 
Growth is a process, not a destination. There is no end to becoming. Be certain that the final word is not yet written. 
 
A decade ago, I promised myself that I would never marry, and that I would commit to a life of celibacy. Even as I still hold to the reasons behind that decision, a pledge to never again treat love in a mercenary manner, life ended up having other plans for me. 
 
She appeared when I did not expect her, offering an opportunity I no longer thought possible. I affectionately say that she is a “piece of work”, in the full knowledge that I would now gladly die for her, without hesitation. In this case, the opinion was meant to evolve. 
 
Have I set aside food? For what purpose? Is it for the sake of restraint, or for the sake of appearances? Do I wish to improve my health, or do I wish to stroke my ego? Am I practicing piety, or am I playing God? It ceases to be the right thing when I discover how I have been doing it for all the wrong reasons. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

Frippisms 3

Discipline is a vehicle for joy. 

Perfect Words

Michael Leunig 87

Frippisms 2

Heaven and earth share the same space. 

Come with Me . . .

Michael Leunig 86