Maxims of Goethe 90

We are all so limited that we always think we are right; and so we may conceive of an extraordinary mind which not only errs but has a positive delight in error. 

Justus Lipsius, On Constancy 1.18

The first three kinds of destiny briefly explained. The definition or description of them all. The Stoics slightly and briefly excused.

"I call mathematical destiny that which ties and knits firmly all actions and events to the power of the planets and dispositions of the stars. Of which the Chaldeans and astrologists were the first authors. And among the philosophers that lofty Mercurius is principal and abettor, who subtly and wisely distinguishing providence, necessity, and destiny, says: providence is an absolute and perfect knowledge of the celestial God; which has two faculties nearly allied unto it, necessity and destiny. 

"Destiny truly serves and assists providence, and also necessity, but unto destiny itself the stars do minister. For neither may any man avoid the force of fate, nor beware of the power and influence of the stars. For these be the weapons and armor of destiny, at whose pleasure they do and perform all things to nature and men. In this foolish opinion are not only the common crew of astrologers, but, I shame to speak it, some divines. 

"I call natural fate the order of natural causes, which, not being hindered, by their force and nature do produce a certain and the selfsame effect. Aristotle is of this sect, if we give credit to Alexander of Aphrodisias his interpreter. Likewise, Theophrastus, who writes plainly, that destiny is the nature of each thing. By their opinion it is destiny that a man begets a man; and so that he dies of inward natural causes and not by violence or force, it is destiny. Contrarily, that a man should engender a serpent or a monster, it is besides destiny: also to be killed with a sword or by fire. 

"This opinion is not very offensive, for that indeed it ascends not so high as the force of fate or destiny. And does not everyone escape falling that keeps himself from climbing aloft? Such a one is Aristotle, almost everywhere writing ought of celestial matters, except it be in his book of the world, which is a golden treatise savoring of a more celestial air. I read moreover in a Greek writer that Aristotle thought that fate was no cause, but that chance was in some sort an alteration or change of the cause of such things as were disposed by necessity. 

"O the heart of a philosopher: that dares to account fortune and chance among the number of causes but not destiny. But let him pass: I come to the Stoics my friends (for I profess to hold that sect in estimation and account) who were the authors of violent fate, which with Seneca I define to be a necessity of all things and actions, which no force can withstand or break. And with Chrysippus, a spiritual power, governing orderly the whole world. 

"These definitions swerve not far from the truth if they be soundly and modestly expounded. Neither, happily, their opinion generally, if the common people had not condemned the same already by a prejudicate conceit. They are charged with two impieties, that they make God subject to the wheel of destiny, and also the actions of our will. I cannot boldly acquit them of both these faults: for out of some of their writings (few being at this day extant) we may gather those sayings, and out of some other we collect more wholesome sentences.

"Seneca, a principal pillar of that sect, stumbles at the first block of his book on providence where he says, the very same necessity binds God: an irrevocable course carries away both human and divine things. The maker and ruler of all things decreed destinies but now follows them; he commanded once, but he obeys forever. And that same indissoluble chain and linking together of causes which binds all things and persons seems plainly to infer force or constraint. 

"But the true Stoics never professed such doctrines, and if by chance any like sentence passed from them in the vehemency of their writing or disputing, it was more in words than in substance and sense. Chrysippus, who first corrupted that grave sect of philosophers with crabbed subtleties of questions, clears it from depriving man of free liberty. And our Seneca does not make God subject to fate (he was wiser than so) but God to God, after a certain kind of speech. For those Stoics that came nearest the truth do call destiny sometimes providence and sometimes God. 

"Therefore Zeno when he had called destiny a power moving about the same matter, after one and the same manner, he adds, which it boots not whether you call it providence or nature. Likewise Chrysippus elsewhere called destiny the eternal purpose or decree of providence. Panaetius the Stoic said, that God himself was fate, Seneca being of the same mind says, when you list you may call the author of nature and all things, by this or that name: you may justly term him the best and great Jupiter and thundering and Stator, that is stable and standing, not so called as historians deliver because after a vow undertaken, he stayed the Roman army from flying away; but because all things stand by his free benefit, therefore was he named stander or establisher. 

"If you call him also fate or destiny, you shall not belie him. For since that destiny is nothing but a folded order of causes, he is the principal and first cause of all whereon the residue does depend. Which last words are so godly spoken that slander itself cannot slander them. In this point dissented not from the Stoics that great writer to a great king: I think that necessity ought not to be called anything else but God, as a steadfast and stable nature. And destiny that which knits together all things and holds his course freely, without let or impediment. Which sayings, if they have any taste of temerity in them, yet not impiety; and being rightly interpreted differ not much from our true fate and destiny. 

"I do in good earnest give this commendation to the Stoics, that no other sect of philosophers avowed more the majesty and providence of God, nor drew men nearer to heaven and eternal things. And if in treading this trace of destiny they went somewhat astray, it was through a laudable and good desire they have to withdraw blind men from the blind goddess, I mean fortune: the nature whereof they did not only mightily hiss out of their company, but even the very name." 

IMAGE: John William Waterhouse, Destiny (1900) 

Aurora Triumphans

Evelyn De Morgan, Aurora Triumphans (c. 1886) 

Night and Sleep

Evelyn De Morgan, Night and Sleep (1878) 

Delphic Maxims 99

Πόνει μετ’ εὐκλείας 

Struggle with honor 

IMAGE: Charles Le Brun, Horatius at the Bridge (c. 1643) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.13.4

Therefore, Zeno was not distressed when he was going to meet Antigonus, for Antigonus had no authority over any of the things that Zeno admired, and Zeno paid no attention to the possessions of Antigonus. 
 
Antigonus was anxious when he was going to meet Zeno, and with good reason, for he wanted to please him, and this lay beyond his control; but Zeno did not wish to please Antigonus, any more than any artist cares to please one who has no skill. 
 
Do I want to please you? Why should I? Do you know the standards by which man judges man? Have you made it your study to learn what a good man is and what a bad man is, and what makes each of them so? Why, then, are you not good yourself? 
 
“Not good? What do you mean?” he replies. 
 
Why, no good man whines or groans or laments, no good man grows pale or trembles or says, “How will he receive me? What hearing will he give me?” 
 
Slave, he will do as he thinks good. What concern have you in what does not belong to you? Is it not his fault if he gives a bad reception to what you offer? 
 
“His fault, certainly.” 
 
But can the fault be one man's and the harm another's? 
 
“No.” 
 
Why, then, are you anxious about another's concerns? 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.13 
 
Among those many unwritten rules, we are expected to fret over pleasing our superiors, though I will rarely hear of anyone questioning what actually makes a man better or worse. Generally speaking, if someone is rich, or can slip you a favor, or might cause you some injury, you are told that you should grovel. I once lost a precious hour of my life trapped in a meeting about choosing the best birthday gift for the provost—it was getting awfully close to promotions season. 
 
By all means, give proper respect wherever it may be due, but first reflect upon your standards of merit, and do not treat fawning and fear as if they were forms of reverence. An anxiety over impressing the boss or placating the bully is a mark of weakness, not of virtue, for we dishonor both ourselves and others whenever we play such crafty games. 
 
Zeno was just an insignificant philosopher, and Antigonus was the mighty king of Macedon, yet the one felt absolutely no need to be esteemed, while the other was always worried about winning further approval. How odd that the people who make the most noise in this world will so often possess the least confidence in themselves! If only they had a greater trust in their own convictions, they would not be so moved by the opinions of their fellows. 
 
As much as I may prefer to be liked, it is not within my power to determine anyone else’s judgments. Let me carefully attend to my conscience, and whether I end up being recognized or ignored, let that stand for itself. If I win a friend, that can always serve me well, and if I make an enemy, I can continue to wish him well. Care enough to listen, without caring so much as to turn into a lackey. 
 
Even after over a decade of constant effort, I can still find this incredibly difficult; the obstacle is not, however, from any lack of fierce willpower but from a lack of calm understanding. It just goes to show how long those noxious habits can cling to us. Falling down is so easy, and standing back up is so hard.
 
I continue to feel a sting when I am insulted or rejected, and if I cling to that impression, I will invariably tumble into a pit of agitation and resentment. The only remedy I have found is to let that pesky passion be, to stop what I am doing right then and there, to take a deep breath and get my bearings. A moment of contemplation then makes the consternation seem quite ridiculous. 
 
Once again, if I can change it, there is no cause for worry, and if I can’t change it, there is no cause for worry. A deliberate decision to cease casting blame is a step in the right direction, since it removes the illusion of conflict. I will recognize the victory when the composure finally becomes like a second nature. 

—Reflection written in 8/2001 

Storm on the Sea 33

Andreas Achenbach, Storm at Sea off the Norwegian Coast (1837) 

Ruins 23

Carl Hasenpflug, The Ruins of Walkenried Abbey in Winter (1843) 

Memento Mori 16

René Bull, Dust to Dust (1913) 

Illustration from Edward FitzGerald, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 

"Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;
Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and—sans End!" 

Vanitas 101

Hendrick Andriessen, Vanitas (c. 1640)

Chuang Tzu 6.13

Î-r Tsze having gone to see Hsü Yû, the latter said to him, "What benefit have you received from Yâo?" 

The reply was, "Yâo says to me, 'You must yourself labor at benevolence and righteousness, and be able to tell clearly which is right and which wrong in conflicting statements.'" 

Hsü Yû rejoined, "Why then have you come to me? Since Yâo has put on you the brand of his benevolence and righteousness, and cut off your nose with his right and wrong, how will you be able to wander in the way of aimless enjoyment, of unregulated contemplation, and the ever-changing forms of dispute?" 

Î-r Tsze said, "That may be; but I should like to skirt along its hedges." 

"But," said the other, "it cannot be. Eyes without pupils can see nothing of the beauty of the eyebrows, eyes, and other features; the blind have nothing to do with the green, yellow, and variegated colors of the sacrificial robes." 

Î-r Tsze rejoined, "Yet, when Wû-kwang lost his beauty, Kü-liang his strength, and Hwang-Tì his wisdom, they all recovered them under the moulding of your system—how do you know that the Maker will not obliterate the marks of my branding, and supply my dismemberment, so that, again perfect in my form, I may follow you as my teacher?" 

Hsü Yû said, "Ah! That cannot yet be known. I will tell you the rudiments. 0 my Master! 0 my Master! He gives to all things their blended qualities, and does not count it any righteousness; His favors reach to all generations, and He does not count it any benevolence; He is more ancient than the highest antiquity, and does not count Himself old; He overspreads heaven and supports the earth; He carves and fashions all bodily forms, and does not consider it any act of skill;- this is He in whom I find my enjoyment." 

IMAGE: M.C. Escher, Eye (1946) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.13.3

What do I mean by “having no lawyer”? 
 
I mean that he does not know that he is wishing to have what is not given him, and wishing not to have what he cannot avoid, and he does not know what is his own and what is not his own. 
 
If he did know, he would never feel hindrance or constraint or anxiety; how could he? Does anyone fear about things which are not evil? 
 
“No.” 
 
Or again about things which are evil but are in his power to prevent? 
 
“Certainly not.” 
 
If, then, nothing beyond our will's control is either good or evil, and everything within our will's control depends entirely on ourselves, so that no one can take any such thing away from us or win it for us against our will, what room is left for anxiety? 
 
Yet we are anxious for our bit of a body, for our bit of property, for what Caesar will think, but are not anxious at all for what is within us. 
 
Am I anxious about not conceiving a false thought? No, for that depends on myself. 
 
Or about indulging an impulse contrary to nature? No, not about this either. 
 
So, when you see a man pale, just as the physician, judging from his color, says, “This man's spleen is out of order, or that man's liver”, so do you say, “This man is disordered in the will to get and the will to avoid, he is not in the right way, he is feverish”; for nothing else changes the complexion and causes a man to tremble and his teeth to chatter, 
 
“and droop the knee and sink upon his feet." 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.13 
 
A few years back, I met a fellow who boldly insisted upon representing himself in a civil trial, and while I did not doubt the righteousness of his cause, I sadly knew that it would not end in his favor. The best of intentions are no substitute for an understanding of what makes it all tick. 
 
If you can stay off their radar, you might avoid a need for the lawyers, but there is no escaping the need to live your life from day to day, in the regular company of your neighbors, while making continual decisions about your desires and aversions. You cannot pay anyone to do this work for you—you will have to suck it up and become a philosopher. 
 
From a sound understanding of the human good, without the distraction of any academic pretensions or professional entanglements, you will discover why there is nothing you should want to get that you don’t already have within your power, and why there is nothing you should want to avoid that is already beyond your power. The crippling anxiety is a result of wishing for all of the wrong things. 
 
Since the fulfillment of any creature is in the excellence of its own nature, it follows that our happiness is from the exercise of our own virtues, to which all other circumstances must be relative. Do not confuse the essence with the accidents. 
 
Or put simply, the quality of my life is in what I choose to do, not merely in what is done to me. Some folks scoff at that old saying about lemons, but that’s probably because they have yet to outgrow a love of complaining.
 
So, if something is outside of my control, why am I permitting it to determine my well-being? And if something is under my control, what is keeping me from changing it for my benefit, right here and now? In either case, the good or the evil are grounded in my estimation: every situation, however imposing, allows me to act with integrity. 
 
Pleasure, riches, and fame are not always blessings, just as pain, poverty, and obscurity are not always curses. Everything hinges upon the presence or absence of character, which explains how a king can be crying while a beggar can be laughing. The distress and the fear turn out to be from a state of mind, never actually from the state of affairs. 
 
Far too often, I catch myself grumbling about various aches and pains, or trembling at the prospects of some wasting disease, when the decay of my body is inevitable, whether it happens sooner or later. Yes, I can take a pill that might give me more time, but what use is the time when the sickness is in my soul? The first task is to get my judgments into shape, so that I do not treat a preference as if it were a necessity. 

—Reflection written in 8/2001 

IMAGE: Titian, Portrait of a Sick Man (1515) 

Conscience

Francois-Nicolas Chifflart, The Conscience (1877) 

Surprise!

Jottings on Marcus 2

Whatever this is that I am, it is a little flesh, and breath, and the ruling part. . . . 

—from Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.2 

I am told to care for myself, to improve myself, to make something of myself, and yet all the while they are pointing at everything that isn't myself. 

This body is just like any other, and this life that animates it is just like any other. The one will return to the earth once the other is snuffed out. 

In the meantime, there is the mind that keeps watch, that governs over the rest. For the moment, that is mine, and so it is unlike any other. 

IMAGE: Evelyn De Morgan, The Passing of the Soul at Death (1919) 

Vivekachudamani 148-154

THE FREEING OF THE SELF

The Self, wrapped up in the five vestures beginning with the vesture formed of food, which are brought into being by its own power, does not shine forth, as the water in the pond, covered by a veil of green scum. 

When the green scum is taken away, immediately the water shines forth pure, taking away thirst and heat, straightway becoming a source of great joy to man. 

When the five vestures have been stripped off, the Self shines forth pure, the one essence of eternal bliss, beheld within, supreme, self-luminous. 

Discernment is to be made between the Self and what is not Self by the wise man seeking freedom from bondage; through this he enters into joy, knowing the Self which is being, consciousness, bliss. 

As the reed from the tiger grass, so separating from the congeries of things visible the hidden Self within, which is detached, not involved in actions, and dissolving all in the Self, he who stands thus, has attained liberation. 

Sayings of Ramakrishna 287

When the bird has flown away from it, one cares no longer for the cage. 

So when the bird of life has flown away, no one cares any longer for the carcass. 

IMAGE: Emma Soyer, The Escape (1836) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.13.2

When I see a man, then, in this state of fear, I cannot say that he is no performer with the lyre, but I can say something else of him, and not one thing but many. 
 
And first of all I call him a stranger and say, “This man does not know where in the world he is; though he has been with us so long, he does not know the laws and customs of the City—what he may do and what he may not do—no, nor has he called in a lawyer at any time to tell him and explain to him what are the requirements of the law.” 
 
Of course he does not draw up a will without knowing how he ought to draw it up, or without calling in one who knows, nor does he lightly put his seal to a guarantee or give a written security; but he calls in no lawyer when he is exercising the will to get and will to avoid, impulse and intention and purpose. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.13 
 
It was a bit easier to impress me when I was younger, so I was often mesmerized by the affected images of certain musicians, actors, or writers. 
 
I did not know anyone who played the lyre, for example, but there were plenty of electric guitarists, especially those in the exaggerated world of heavy metal, prancing about in all sorts of extreme poses, and twisting their faces as if they were passing a kidney stone. I’m not sure I could now explain the appeal of the big hair and the studded leather. 
 
It was a bit disappointing to discover how “shredding” was far more about theatrics than it was about technical ability, and while I still find great fun in it, I no longer define my life by what anyone does on a stage. Why would I assume that a fellow who can play a good show has any qualifications to inspire me to a good life? Do not confuse your entertainment with your metaphysics. 
 
I eventually realized how many people put on an act in order to run away from their anxieties, as if the appearance on the outside can cover for the disturbance on the inside—it turned out I wasn’t the only one playing make-believe. The cure for my doubts and fears is in learning my way around my own nature, not in learning my way around a fretboard. 
 
In the spirit of Gauguin, which reflects the spirit of all Wisdom Traditions, I will be at peace when I have made some sense of where I have come from, what I am, and where I am going. Then I will know something about the lay of the land, about the ways of the human city, of which I was born a citizen. For all that I have received, where is my duty to give? Whatever is done to me, how am I called to respond? When it is time for the curtain to fall, have I contributed more than just a clever performance? 
 
We are quick to turn to the experts for the most mundane of tasks, and yet I rarely see anyone asking for help when it comes to reading our moral compass, the one thing none of us can afford to mess up. If we need a lawyer to navigate the complexities of the human law, then how much greater is our need for a sage to teach about the depths of the natural law? 
 
A trade might assist us with getting what we want, while philosophy allows us to decide whether it was even worth wanting to begin with. The grasping man is restless, precisely because he has never questioned his actual needs. 

—Reflection written in 8/2001 

Jottings on Marcus 1

In addition to the informal reflections, my notebooks were also full of what I called blurbs or jottings, brief reactions to small sections of text. 

While the former involved sitting down at a desk in peace and quiet for a time, the latter were hurried observations, often scribbled down at the most inconvenient moments, out of a fear that I might lose an insight before I got home. 

I do not know if any of them are worthwhile, or if it is still possible to squeeze some meaning out of them. Indeed, many of these notes now seem cryptic to me, since I have long forgotten the peculiar circumstances that inspired them. 

In any case, they are now sorted with a semblance of order, and perhaps they will eventually inspire someone to scratch his head. 

—5/2017 

• • • • • 

Begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. 

All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. . . . 

—from Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.1 

Perhaps Bias of Priene was right to say that "most people are bad." 

But why might that be? And how will I then choose to react? 

If only they knew, they would surely do better. So let me begin by working on my own awareness for this day. 

Only understanding can defeat ignorance. And only understanding makes forgiveness possible. 

Wisdom from the Early Cynics, Diogenes 43

After seeing a stupid wrestler practicing as a doctor, Diogenes inquired of him, "What does this mean? Is it that you may now have your revenge on the rivals who formerly beat you?" 

Seeing the child of a courtesan throw stones at a crowd, he cried out, "Take care you don't hit your father." 

A boy having shown him a dagger that he had received from an admirer, Diogenes remarked, "A pretty blade with an ugly handle." 

When some people commended a person who had given him a gratuity, he broke in with "You have no praise for me who was worthy to receive it." 

When someone asked that he might have back his cloak, "If it was a gift," replied Diogenes, "I possess it; while, if it was a loan, I am using it." 

A supposititious son having told him that he had gold in the pocket of his dress, "True," said he, "and therefore you sleep with it under your pillow." 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.62 

IMAGE: Bernard Picart, Diogenes (1724)